Urbanists.Social

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eddiebbottechnique is our environment, the new "nature" in which we live, the dominant factor, the system. I need not elaborate on its features: autonomy, unity, universality, totality, automatic growth, automation, causal progression, the absence of finality.13or need I discuss afresh the distinction between the technical system and the technical society. --Jaques Ellul, The Technological Bluff (1988) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

Rich Stein (he/him)The pretense for the U.S. attorney's letter is ridiculous. "Viewpoint diversity?" What next, demands to give antivax conspiracy theorists, Creationists and Flat Earthers equal time? We are moving from peer review to clown demands, and it really is not funny. The U.S. is trapped in an unbelievable comic farce and a cruel, horrific tragedy at the same time. What a nightmare. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/us-attorney-demands-scientific-journal-explain-ensures-viewpoint-diver-rcna201929" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/us-attorney-demands-scientific-journal-explain-ensures-viewpoint-diver-rcna201929</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ScienceMatters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScienceMatters</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/antiscience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#antiscience</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USpol</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/USpolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USpolitics</a>

Arhippa HiccupsealEnki Bilal: Jumalaton näytelmä (Gods in Chaos / Carnival of Immortals / La Foire aux immortels)Lähitulevaisuuden Pariisi. Fasistinen diktatuuri, jota kirkko tukee. Hallitseva eliitti asuu kaupungin keskustassa armeijan vartioimana. Normikansalaiset tallaavat likaisia ja romuntäytteisiä katuja köyhyydessä ja tietämättömyydessä, paitsi että kaikki naiset ovat synnytyslaitoksissa. Sekavia katusaarnaajia, graffiteja, huppupäisiä hiippareita hylätyissä metrotunneleissa. Kaduilla vaeltaa myös ihmismäisiä olentoja, joista ei tarkemmin selitetä, ovatko he olleet alunperin homo sapienseja vai tulleet toiselta planeetalta. Virallisten sanomalehtien vastapainona ovat pienilevikkiset, kömpelöllä kielellä kirjoitetut vaihtoehtohavainnot.Meillä on siis rikas, likainen ja kahtiajakoinen dystopia(scifi)maailma. Samankaltaisia asetelmia on monissa dystopiafiktioissa; lyhyt lista: Vuonna 1984, Tähtien sota, Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita. Tai toisin sanoen, on perinteinen diktatuurirakenne: pieni hallitseva eliitti, kurjuudessa ja huijauksessa elävä kansalaisten enemmistö, ja armeija tai muu fysikaalinen este näiden välissä. Tässä tapauksessa ei kuitenkaan ole sankaria, joka kamppailisi rikkoakseen valta-asetelman. Sen sijaan...Egyptiläiset jumalat ovat pysäköineet pyramidimaisen avaruusaluksensa Pariisiin, koska heiltä puuttuu jotain olennaista matkan jatkamiseen: öljyä. Diiliä hierotaan: jumalille öljyä, diktaattorille kuolemattomuus. Sitten vielä kadulle putoaa heppu, joka on lusinut avaruudessa syväjäädytettynä 30 vuotta, nimeltään Alcide Nikopol (1980-luvun suomennoksessa Stanku Brickley). Jumalseurueen haukanpäinen Horus on päättänyt lähteä omille teilleen ja löytää sulaneen Nikopolin. Nikopol päätyy vaihtelevan tietoiseksi Horuksen nukeksi osana jumalallisia bisneksiä.Juoni on kaaoottinen satiiri diktatuurista maustettuna mustalla huumorilla. Odotellessaan sopivaa vaihtokurssia jumalat pelaavat diktaattorin lahjoittamaa Monopolia. Siinä missä diktaattori Choublanc joutuu vetämään taidolleen tyypillistä teatteria, yhtälailla vallanahne jumala voi laukoa pidäkkeettömän ylimielisiä lausuntoja, kun voi tarvittaessa piilotella kuolevaisen kehossa. Yhdet jos toisetkin aivot kärventyvät jumalallinen laserkatseen tuijotuksessa. Paavikin pääsee testaamaan levitaatiovyötä.Toisaalta tarina pysyy kasassa kepästi; ei ole sivujuonia ja suurta määrää irtovitsejä, vaan jokainen ruutu palvelee kokonaisuutta. Tarinan vauhdikkuuteen verrattuna visuaalinen kerronta etenee suorastaan rauhallisesti. Piirros on realistisenomaista, huoliteltua, viiva rauhallista, paljon yksityiskohtia. Voi hyvin kuvitella, miten yhden sivun piirtämiseen luonnoksesta tussaukseen ja väritykseen on mennyt useita päiviä, ellei viikko. Niinikään ruutuja per albumisivu on maltilliset 4-6. Elokuvavertauksella kamera on tyypillisesti henkilöhahmojen kanssa samalla tasolla ja osoittaa suoraan eteenpäin. Ruutujen rajaukset ja sommittelut ovat verrattain väljiä. Yhden ruudun kesto on ennemmin kohtauksen kuin hetken luokkaa, ajallisesti tulkittavissa minuutiksi tai puoleksi: dialogia on usean puhekuplan verran ja katse ehtii seikkailla myös realistisen mielikuvituksellisissa taustoissa. Tämä ei ole toimintascifiä, vaan verkkaisempaa, fantastista realismia. Kriittiseen tarkasteluun voisi nostaa sen, miten visuaalinen rauhallisuus tulee myös esiin niukassa eleiden ja liikkeen kuvauksessa, joka on perusolemukseltaan jäykkää. Hahmot nähdään usein seisomassa tai istumassa aloillaan, ja Nikopol itsekin on melkoinen kivikasvo. Yhtäältä sarjakuvalla on ikää 45 vuotta, tyyli on hillittyä ranskalaista realismia, toisaalta omassa sarjakuvanlukutaustassani on myös paljon uudempaa kamaa, mangaa, toimintaa, ja elepiirtämistä. Poikkeuksiakin on, kuten kun hävittäjät ampuvat alas Nikopolin avaruuskapselin tai kun paavi testaa levitaatiovyötä ympärillään lentelevien kerubien seassa.Visuaalisesti samankaltaisista tekijöistä tulee mieleen Moebius (Jean Giraud). Moebiuksella oli samalla tavalla orgaanista tussiviivaa, maltillisesti ruudutettuja sivuja, murrettuja värejä ja yksityiskohtaisia, surrealistisia scifi-fantasianäkymiä. Tämä ei ole sattumaa: molemmat piirsivät 1970-1980-luvulla taiteellisesti ja laadullisesti kunnianhimoiseen Métal Hurlant -sarjakuvalehteen. Tom Lennon on selostanut kattavasti Métal Hurlantin vaikutusta populaarikulttuuriin. <a href="https://tomlennon.com/metal-hurlant-the-french-comic-that-changed-the-world/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://tomlennon.com/metal-hurlant-the-french-comic-that-changed-the-world/</a> Toisaalta erojakin on: siinä missä Moebius käyttää tasaisia väripintoja ja viiva painottuu ääriviivaan, Bilal, ainakin Jumalattomassa näytelmässä, käyttää viivaa joka paikassa kuvaten yksityiskohtia runsaasti, oli kyse henkilöhahmoista, teknohärpäkkeistä, humanoideista tai likaisesta ja koristeellisesta scifi-Pariisista. Ristiviivoitusta myös käytetään varjostukseen. Olennainen osa visuaalista näyttävyyttä on myös peiteväreillä tehdyt väritykset; vaikutelma on orgaaninen, synkeä, hetkittäin räikeän fantastinen. Likatahrat sulautuvat rakennuksiin. Charley Parker havainnoi, että Bilal piirtää asioista tekstuureja, siis tuo pinnan kuviot ja vaihtelut esiin. <a href="https://linesandcolors.com/2006/01/13/enki-bilal/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://linesandcolors.com/2006/01/13/enki-bilal/</a>Laajemmin, jos synkeä dystopiamaailma, ränsistyneisyys, likaisuus, ja erinäiset tarkemmin esitteleämättömät humanoidiolennot Jumalattomassa näytelmässä tuovat mieleen Tähtien sota -elokuvat (erityisesti sen ensimmäisen, 1977 ohjatun), niin em. Tom Lennonin jutun perusteella onkin niin, että George Lucas alun perin vaikuttui Moebiuksen, Bilalin ja kumppanien visuaalisesta setistä Métal Hurlantissa ja ammensi siitä Tähtien sodan maailmaan. Tämä rönsy toivon mukaan auttaa hahmottamaan Bilalin vaikutusta 1980-luvun dystopiascifiin.Jumalattomassa näytelmässä päähenkilömme Nikopol tulee tönityksi tarinassa eteenpäin vasten tahtoaan, passiivisesti, kuten Petri Hänninen kirjoittaa Kulttuuritoimituksessa. <a href="https://kulttuuritoimitus.fi/kirjoittaja/petri-hanninen/pyllistys-fasismille-enki-bilalin-jumalaton-naytelma-sarjakuva-on-ajankohtaisempi-kuin-koskaan/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://kulttuuritoimitus.fi/kirjoittaja/petri-hanninen/pyllistys-fasismille-enki-bilalin-jumalaton-naytelma-sarjakuva-on-ajankohtaisempi-kuin-koskaan/</a> Toisaalta tarinasta tekee kiehtovan se, ettei siinä ole selkeitä sankareita. Vertauskuvallisesti egyptiläisten jumalten tilalle voisi kuvitella jonkin toisen rikkaan eliittiryhmän, joka vakavissaan harkitsee raaka-aineiden hankkimista diktaattorilta. Jumalaton näytelmä ilmestyi ensimmäisen kerran 1980 ranskaksi ja sen dystopia-Pariisi on ajoitettu vuodelle 2023. Vuosiluvuilla ei sinänsä ole mitään väliä, sillä rikas scifi-fantasiamaailma nimenomaan etäännyttää ja antaa mahdollisuuden löytää monenlaisia vastineita ihmiskunnan historiassa ja nykyhetkessä.Jos lähdet tätä teosta etsimään, niin tässä pari vinkkiä. Kunnan- ja kaupunginkirjastoista tätä saattaa löytää, samoin antikvariaateista netistä, joskin suhteellisen kovaan hintaan. Jumalaton näytelmä on osa Bilalin Nikopol-trilogiaa; jos englanti sujuu, koko kolmoisniteen on vuonna 2016 kustantanut Titan Comics.<a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/EnkiBilal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#EnkiBilal</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/sarjakuvat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sarjakuvat</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/arvostelu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#arvostelu</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/fantasia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fantasia</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/kirjallisuus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#kirjallisuus</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mementomori.social/tags/diktatuuri" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#diktatuuri</a> #1980-luku

Nando161もののけ姫 / <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/PrincessMononoke" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PrincessMononoke</a> 1997, dir. Hayao Miyazaki<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/movie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#movie</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/anime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#anime</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/quote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#quote</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/gifs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gifs</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/classwar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#classwar</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/philosophy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#philosophy</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#free</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/torrent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#torrent</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/thepiratebay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thepiratebay</a>

Nando161<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/THEYLIVE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#THEYLIVE</a> (1988) dir. john carpenter<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/movie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#movie</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/gifs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gifs</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/classwar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#classwar</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#free</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/torrent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#torrent</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/thepiratebay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thepiratebay</a>

Nando161"What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/TheMatrix" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TheMatrix</a> (1999) dir. by the Wachowskis <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/movie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#movie</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/quote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#quote</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/gif" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gif</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/trinity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#trinity</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/acab" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#acab</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/AllCopsAreBastards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AllCopsAreBastards</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/morpheus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#morpheus</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#free</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/torrent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#torrent</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/thepiratebay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thepiratebay</a>

Nando161<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/GokuMidnightEye" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GokuMidnightEye</a> (1989)<a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/anime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#anime</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/movie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#movie</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/scifi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#scifi</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/free" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#free</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/torrent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#torrent</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/thepiratebay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thepiratebay</a> <a href="https://partyon.xyz/tags/gif" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gif</a>

eddiebbotInstead of removing the conditions that make people depressed, modern society gives them antidepressant drugs. In effect, antidepressants are a means of modifying an individual's internal state in such a way as to enable him to tolerate social conditions that he would otherwise find intolerable. --Ted Kaczynki, Technological Slavery (2010) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

Grinning Cat :neocat_flag_bi: :neocat_flag_polyam:<a href="https://mastodon.cloud/@Punkwalrus" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Punkwalrus</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/ALT4YOU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ALT4YOU</a>Dystopian fiction is when you take things that happen in real life to marginalized populations and apply them to people with privilege.[A Twitter post by "an unofficial Hugo book club blog" (username Hugo_Book_Club) at 11:45 AM 2021-08-20]<a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/DystopianFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DystopianFiction</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/privilege" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#privilege</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#books</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/HugoAwards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HugoAwards</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/SF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SF</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/BookClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BookClub</a> <a href="https://tech.lgbt/tags/BookClubs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BookClubs</a>

eddiebbotJaques Ellul defining technique: ...does not mean machines, technology, or this or that procedure for attaining an end, rather, it is the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency ... in every field of human activity. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

AnarchoNinaAnalyzesWhen TechBro billionaire oligarchs were the darlings of "liberal" capitalist society, their homages to sci-fi literature were considered "quirky." Today, on the verge of what some call a "techno-feudalist" dictatorship in America, paid for by many of those same TechBro billionaires, a recent opinion piece in The Guardian raises an important question; was society ignoring the warning signs that these rich megalomaniacs took the wrong lessons from the stories we all grew up loving?<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/14/the-big-idea-will-sci-fi-end-up-destroying-the-world" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/14/the-big-idea-will-sci-fi-end-up-destroying-the-world</a>The Big Idea: Will Sci-Fi End Up Destroying the World?"We can see this most clearly in the way the dystopian settings of so much cyberpunk fiction are seen by today’s tech leaders as prophetic visions of a world they need to try to escape – whether by colonising Mars, building metaverses or, in the case of Vance’s billionaire patron Peter Thiel, backing efforts to create new city states by buying land in developing countries. In the original novels it tended to be people like them responsible for creating the dystopias in the first place, but they’ve somehow projected the blame on to the masses.In Snow Crash there’s something called “the Raft” – a collection of boats filled with infected, mind-controlled refugees headed for America’s west coast. It’s an image that recalls the viciously racist 1973 French sci-fi novel The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail, in which a huge fleet of Indian refugees destroy western civilisation. It’s had a far-right fandom ever since and has been referenced by former Donald Trump campaign manager Steve Bannon. It’s a particular favourite of Stephen Miller, Trump’s lead policy adviser and close friend of Musk (Miller’s wife, Katie, is the Doge spokeswoman).It’s not much of a jump to see the actions of Thiel and Musk, and many of those around them, as an attempt to forestall this fate, linking, as they do, the racial obsessions of the far right with their odd brand of tech-utopianism. When Thiel writes that “I no longer believe freedom and democracy are compatible”, or when Musk makes up wild stories about the Democrats using benefit fraud to import migrants, they are unabashedly expressing this fear of being overrun. The greatest irony of all is that in their desperation to build escape routes, they risk creating the very dystopias they fear."To answer our question above, yes society did ignore the warning signs that these TechBro billionaires were reactionary freaks with terrible ideas and increasingly, enough money power to try and make those ideas a reality; but not necessarily for the reasons the author implies in this article. I think at this point it's pretty uncontroversial to say that guys like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and even Jeff Bezos are deeply unserious thinkers whose wealth allows them to surround themselves with actual scientists, engineers, and inventors who can turn their pulp fiction fantasies into reality; so it's not really a surprise that these rich dilettante get their ideas from mass market sci-fi novels. What I think is far more instructional however, is to look at *which* science fiction ideas these folks gravitate towards; specifically the hyper-capitalist, racist, fascist, and authoritarian ideas commonly found in the sci-fi novels they grew up with. I'm not a psychic of course, but I don't think it's an accident that billionaire TechBros who buy whole governments and seem intent on installing a technologically-enhanced form of fascism in America, gravitate towards stories and ideas about power, superiority, and the apocalypse that many critics have rightfully described as fascist in nature; nor do I think its a coincidence that these would-be "Masters of the Universe" have that in common with fascist propagandists like Curtis Yarvin, or even the Trump regime that Musk has bought outright control of. When you factor in that almost all of these same people are also interested in things like eugenics, neo-fascist corporate dictatorships, and racialized birth rates on a global scale, it becomes pretty clear that the origin story here is about powerful people looking for ideas that support their reactionary, supremacist, authoritarian beliefs; not a fascination with literary fiction. In the end, I think that's the handle many people are missing when they're trying to understand the so-called "Dark Enlightenment." These folks don't believe in fascist ideology because they think they're right; these rich bastards are folks who have been presented with the problem of how to maintain their wealth and power on a boiling planet, even as the capitalism that grants them everything is going to kill billions, and fascist ideas are the only way they can square that circle, so they're always on the lookout for more of them. Sci-Fi stories aren't going to destroy the world; but the fascism that was so easily hidden inside many of them just might.<a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Fascism</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/TechBro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TechBro</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/BigTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BigTech</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/ElonMusk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ElonMusk</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/PeterThiel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PeterThiel</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/CurtisYavin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CurtisYavin</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Trump</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/Vance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Vance</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/StephenMiller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StephenMiller</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/SciFi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SciFi</a> <a href="https://social.treehouse.systems/tags/Dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Dystopia</a>

patuleiaThe Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216363.The_Man_in_the_High_Castle" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216363.The_Man_in_the_High_Castle</a><a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/NowReading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NowReading</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#books</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/audiobooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#audiobooks</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/goodreads" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#goodreads</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/scienceficion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#scienceficion</a> <a href="https://patuleia.eu/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a>

Rich Stein (he/him)Nightmare grows — U.S.-born American citizen under ICE hold in Florida after driving from Georgia <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/us-born-citizen-detained-ice-immigration-florida-rcna201800" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/us-born-citizen-detained-ice-immigration-florida-rcna201800</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/ICE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ICE</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HumanRights</a>

eddiebbotThe mass media are mostly under the control of large organizations that are integrated into the system... In order to get our message before the public with some chance of making a lasting impression, we've had to kill people. --Ted Kaczynki, Technological Slavery (2010) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

adaddinsane (Steve Turnbull)Book Promotion: Ever-changing year-long promotion for the very best in SF/F with free stories to download. Even if you looked once - look again because the books will be changing. <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/planets" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#planets</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/military" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#military</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/dwarves" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dwarves</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/time" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#time</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/ladies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ladies</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/legendary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#legendary</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/wizards" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wizards</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/readers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#readers</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/spaceship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#spaceship</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/reader" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#reader</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/aliens" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#aliens</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/goodbooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#goodbooks</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/dwarfs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dwarfs</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/reading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#reading</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/knaves" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#knaves</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/amreading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#amreading</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/magic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#magic</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/fedibookfair" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fedibookfair</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#bookstodon</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/heroes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#heroes</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/futurism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#futurism</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/dragons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dragons</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/knights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#knights</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/rogue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#rogue</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/monsters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#monsters</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/elves" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#elves</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/space" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#space</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/fae" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fae</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/sorcery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sorcery</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/witches" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#witches</a> (7a68) <a href="https://books.bookfunnel.com/ongoingscififantasy/1i7g7jzy67?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://books.bookfunnel.com/ongoingscififantasy/1i7g7jzy67?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon</a>

eddiebbotAs a result of the computer, everything now is not flux but a network of information. Every human activity is now set within a network or an intersection of many networks that are combining and will finally become a global network, it is thought, which will be the agent and expression of all possible combinations of networks. --Jaques Ellul, The Technological Bluff (1988) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

eddiebbotThe interposing of the technical object between us and the world takes on another sense. Whether in the domestic, educational, medical, or commercial field, the value of consumption lies less in the actual cost of what we buy than in that of the progress of knowledge. We are moving into an economy based on the production and circulation of immaterial goods, that is, knowledge and information. --Jaques Ellul, The Technological Bluff (1988) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

Zivan - Childless Cat GuyI've finished: Cage of Souls by Adrian TchaikovskyI read Cage of Souls after reading Tchaikovsky's 2024 penal colony novel Alien Clay. It was interesting to view such similar premises that play out so differently. An authoritarian regime that refuses to acknowledge scientific reality sends its dissidence to a deadly penal colony. The complexity of reality we discover along the way paves the way to a new future. While Alien Clay is set in a universe where humans colonized space and are exporting their imperialist ideals. Cage of Souls is set at humanities twilight, after it failed to leave for the stars. In Clay, the focus is on political dissent, dogma and science. In Souls, the dissidents are a mixed bag of the disenfranchised that have run afoul of the elite, each with their own agendas. More like in, City of Last Chances. I really enjoyed the richness of the world, with such a deep past and present, yet so much of it unknown, With a curious scholar as the protagonist and unreliable narrator. <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3d0bff14-4bf7-4ede-9c7f-aa3be947a5d6" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3d0bff14-4bf7-4ede-9c7f-aa3be947a5d6</a><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@bookstodon</a> <a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/audiobooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@audiobooks</a> <a href="https://tweesecake.social/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="https://tweesecake.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://tweesecake.social/tags/AudioBooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AudioBooks</a> <a href="https://tweesecake.social/tags/bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#bookstodon</a>

eddiebbotIn a given society, the more people talk about a value or virtue or collective project, the more this is a sign of its absence. They talk about it because the reality is the opposite. If there is much talk about liberty, it is because the people do not have it. The darker the reality, the brighter the speech. --Jaques Ellul, The Technological Bluff (1988) <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#dystopia</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#technology</a>

Flipboard Art & Photo DeskWhen artists imagine the future these days, it looks bleak and dark — and actually, fair enough. But for Boomers, it was colorful, shiny, and sometimes sexy — and that's at least partly down to the late Syd Mead, the concept artist who worked on "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," "Tron" and "Blade Runner," and also depicted futuristic vehicles and alien vistas, imbued with optimism rather than evil. Six years after his death, Mead has his first retrospective, Future Pastime. Read more about it in the Art Newspaper's story here, and see it in New York until May 21. Story may be paywalled.<a href="https://flip.it/rehpaC" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://flip.it/rehpaC</a><a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Art" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Art</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Movies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Movies</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Film" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Film</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScienceFiction</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Futurism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Futurism</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Dystopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Dystopia</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/BladeRunner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BladeRunner</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Tron" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tron</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/StarTrek" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#StarTrek</a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/SydMead" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SydMead</a>

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