Are We Living in a Cyberpunk Dystopia?

[Grubenwolf]

I haven't played Cyberpunk yet so I can't say but I can say this country is starting to look more and more like George Orwell's 1984 where you're considered a criminal even a terrorist for believing in certain things and anything that voices those same beliefs and opinions are censored and silenced. When Muslims were being called terrorists because of their religion and because of the few extremists people were right away up to defend their right to believe in their religion but now that it's political people support the silencing and censoring of people who have different opinions and beliefs.

What's scarier is that people actually support this. No matter where you align politically everyone should be against censoring other people's beliefs. In other words EVERYONE should be against violating our right to freely speak. Just because you think it's wrong doesn't give you the right to take their voice away like that.

[Fencers]

It's a dystopia, but not cyber or punk. Just people begging for money to buy insulin online, parents working 12-16 hours a day to afford the rent from social leeches (aka Landlords), people stripping and performing sex acts for pay-per-view to make end's meet, and other horrors.

[PC2]

It's a dystopia, but not cyber or punk. Just people begging for money to buy insulin online,

Dystopia implies that we're living in a declined society though. If anything we're living in a utopia for diabetics because if they were born a century ago there is a high chance they would've died because of how hard it was to make insulin. Also this seems highly anecdotal unless you can provide evidence that most diabetics are having a harder to time obtaining insulin in the last decade.

parents working 12-16 hours a day to afford the rent from social leeches (aka Landlords),

Again highly anecdotal unless you can provide evidence that the average amount of hours worked has gone up significantly in recent times. Even if there has been a 5% fluctuation or something like that I would say that hardly justifies the idea that our society has transitioned into a dystopia.

people stripping and performing sex acts for pay-per-view to make end's meet, and other horrors.

Why would that bother you if you are not a Puritanical person? People can now sexually express themselves and be financially rewarded by society instead of being punished. That's a good thing.

[Daedius]

We're heading there.

[Fencers]

Dystopia implies that we're living in a declined society though.

That was exactly what I was suggesting.

[PC2]

That was exactly what I was suggesting.

Based on anecdotes that confirm your pessimism. The overall data tells a different story.

[Shadowferal]

That was exactly what I was suggesting.

If it's not affecting him then it isn't so.
This is the same guy that that calls climate change and even that insurrection attempt at the WH "hyperbole."

I think we're in the beginnings of s dystopic society; the denials, the eroding QOL, the ever increasing concentration of wealth in the comparative few, the decreasing middle class...
Orwell was prophetic.

[Easo]

But the corporations own that state. Is a paramilitary private army necessary when the Commander in Chief in the pocket?

You underestimate how easily state could take them over via nationalization and put whole board/shareholders behind bars, if needed. Martial law can do wonders.
The actual game is full of displays and stories about corporation power - none of that can be applicable to reality.
P.S.
In Cyberpunk universe corps got taken over or could be dealt with by countries as well. Arasaka itself, the most powerful one, was laid low for decades.

But the corporations have de facto control of the military

Classic Themius. No, they do not. Please stop.

[Masark]

If anything we're living in a utopia for diabetics because if they were born a century ago there is a high chance they would've died because of how hard it was to make insulin.

Yeah, now they die because they can't afford insulin because colluding corporations are charging hundreds of times its cost.

[Felya]

Totally... when I look in the mirror, am totally bald... 100% proof am living in Cyberpunk...

- - - Updated - - -

If anything we're living in a utopia for diabetics because if they were born a century ago there is a high chance they would've died because of how hard it was to make insulin.

How many people do you think had diabetes a century ago? Why not take it back a few more centuries, to talk about how gout is a status symbol.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, now they die because they can't afford insulin because colluding corporations are charging hundreds of times its cost.

The fact that so many people have diabetes, kinda makes the idea of us living in a utopia that can assist with diabetes, kinda strange. What if we didn’t have corn syrup advertising aimed at kids? What if we had more time to cook for our selfs, instead of fast food? What if we didn’t waste our lives in front of a PC monitor playing wow... how much of a problem would diabetes be? Would it be such a negligible problem, that celebrating the ability to manage it, would be pretty benign?

Edit: Claiming that diabetes treatment is a sign of utopia, is like thinking you live in a utopia, because you have the best air filters money can bye... so you don’t have to deal with nearly unbreathable air outside... after all, imagine living in a society, that developed filter technology cleaning 99% of the unbreathable air outside, into breathable air? How utopian is that?

Bandaids for institutional problems, does not make a utopia...

[Sunseeker]

Not enough cyber, and faaar to little punk.

[Themius]

You underestimate how easily state could take them over via nationalization and put whole board/shareholders behind bars, if needed. Martial law can do wonders.
The actual game is full of displays and stories about corporation power - none of that can be applicable to reality.
P.S.
In Cyberpunk universe corps got taken over or could be dealt with by countries as well. Arasaka itself, the most powerful one, was laid low for decades.



Classic Themius. No, they do not. Please stop.

They don't? We have gone to war, organised coups, organised regimen destabilisation based on monetary interests...

When you then also consider the people in cabinet positions... people who make these decisions about war and such all too often they also serve on the board of some military-industrial company

[PC2]

How many people do you think had diabetes a century ago? Why not take it back a few more centuries, to talk about how gout is a status symbol.

That only applies to type II diabetes but not type I diabetes.

The fact that so many people have diabetes, kinda makes the idea of us living in a utopia that can assist with diabetes, kinda strange. What if we didn’t have corn syrup advertising aimed at kids? What if we had more time to cook for our selfs, instead of fast food? What if we didn’t waste our lives in front of a PC monitor playing wow... how much of a problem would diabetes be? Would it be such a negligible problem, that celebrating the ability to manage it, would be pretty benign?

Edit: Claiming that diabetes treatment is a sign of utopia, is like thinking you live in a utopia, because you have the best air filters money can bye... so you don’t have to deal with nearly unbreathable air outside... after all, imagine living in a society, that developed filter technology cleaning 99% of the unbreathable air outside, into breathable air? How utopian is that?

Bandaids for institutional problems, does not make a utopia...

Making progress must always create new problems which prevents us from achieving a utopia. However that is not an excuse to bemoan progress and be ungrateful. The fact that we made corn syrup dirt cheap and abundant is a good thing because having access to too many calories is a better problem than having access to too little calories. Ultimately the individual and parents are responsible for Type II diabetes and that is not a reason to minimize innovations such as insulin production.

[Shadowferal]

Your so-called "progress is a roller coaster with you thinking that going forward means not dropping...and picking up speed.

[dextersmith]

It's just a regular dystopia.

[beanman12345]

Not a cyberpunk dystopia, but I do believe we're living in a dystopia. I mean, just read the damn news and use very basic critical thinking. State run news or not I think it's evident a dystopia we're in.

[Shadowferal]

It's just a regular dystopia.

Pity.
At least a cyberpunk dystopia might have a little more going for it.
A regular one is just slow entropy swirling...swirling...down the toilet...and yet not flushing.

[Elegiac]

Yes, and I daresay that's why the genre feels stale these days - it turns out the late capitalist dystopia envisioned by cyberpunk isn't half as glamorous as predicted.

[PC2]

Not a cyberpunk dystopia, but I do believe we're living in a dystopia. I mean, just read the damn news and use very basic critical thinking. State run news or not I think it's evident a dystopia we're in.

What you see in the news is very selective though. What metrics would have to change such that our "dystopia" ceases to be a dystopia? It's preferable to use things that are quantifiable and not your "feelings" about where society is headed. You should never assume that what you see in the news is representative of society overall.

[Shadowferal]

What you see in the news is very selective though. What metrics would have to change such that our "dystopia" ceases to be a dystopia? It's preferable to use things that are quantifiable otherwise you will just assume that what you see in the news is representative of society overall.

You're only going by what affects you.