Is the US a dystopia?

option 3 ftw

US perfidy always comes back to tea

not really

hm sounds like you're either a "no" or "The Beatles" but afaict you can still secretly vote however you wish

it's going to take a lot of restraint not to shoehorn this in to thread connections

I figured it was what it was for.

least serious answer is the correct one

by that you mean "yes"?

oh misread "least" as "last" nevermind

This question is unhelpful and I have no idea why it is being asked.

Badly trimmed shrub = dystopiary

Dropped the clay - dyspottery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jeu3iH0R_GM

I mean, pulling up the forecast today and seeing tornado warnings for Chicago in mid-December doesn't make me not think it's a dystopia.

an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.

not imagined, authoritarian rather than totalitarian and pre-apocalyptic instead of post IMO

so maybe it's not a dystopia but merely dystopic

dystopic? I dunno. but ilx is def dyspeptic today.

I did not remotely intend this thread to be serious, but there's an argument to be made that 1492 counts as the apocalypse

Can the apocalypse be local?

Americans rly struggle with not being the world and i think its quite telling tbh

let it beatles

Climate catastrophe is going to be pretty universal IIRC.

which is v little to do with the point about 1492 is it

you can get with dystopia, or you can get with datopia

just throwing this out there but maybe dystopia fans are blind to dystopias

I dunno I think most fans of the crust punk band Dystopia probably would agree that the USA is a dystopia fwiw

let me see, is the US a dystopia.

the republican party is trying to actively KILL a lot of people. let me just see how that plays in the polls

The approval rating among those who voted for [Biden] has dropped from 80% to 69% in the April survey. There have been notable declines among Americans 18-34 and suburban residents, both of whom, in dramatic swings, now register net negative views on the president.

As bad as Biden’s number may be, the polling data for Democrats in Congress is far worse.

Republicans now sport a historic 10-point advantage when Americans are asked which party they prefer to control Congress, holding a 44%-34% margin over Democrats. That’s up from a 2-point Republican advantage in the October survey.

In the past 20 years, CNBC and NBC surveys have never registered a double-digit Republican advantage on congressional preference, with the largest lead ever being 4 pints for the GOP.

“If the election were tomorrow, it would be an absolute unmitigated disaster for the Democrats,″ said Jay Campbell, partner at Hart Research Associates and the Democratic pollster for the survey.

yes it's a full blown dystopia

nah but rich people have never had it better tho

A 4 pint lead is difficult to overcome tbh. sorry

Can the apocalypse be local?

Americans rly struggle with not being the world and i think its quite telling tbh

― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Friday, December 10, 2021 8:10 PM (one hour ago)

I was addressing "the apocalypse" that it could be argued helps to confirm the US as a dystopia, the subject of this important poll. So I guess I do think it can be local, idk, why not? Anyway Columbus never even entered future-US territory, it's more of a symbolic hinge year for everything being terrible from then on

I'd figure most people using the term think in the sense of dystopian science fiction and I kinda think 2021 has quite a few elements that seem like out of such.

There's no utopia that's not someone's dystopia, and vice versa.

The notion of local dystopias is an interesting one. Could be that there was an egalitarian paradise unfolding just a continent or two over from Mad Max.

If the US ticks all the boxes- and there's a case- then clearly plenty of very nice places to live in exist besides so id say thats a clear yes

Have we ever not been? Slave state — apartheid state — Vietnam/Watergate — Corporate state — Fury Road (2016-present)

the people in the mayfield candle factory that collapsed worked 12-hour shifts that paid $8 an hour. 110 ppl were inside. 40 ppl are still unaccounted for. they haven’t recovered a survivor since 3 am. pic.twitter.com/CsIIfLw3Pc

— Tracy Moore (@iusedtobepoor) December 11, 2021

it’s legal in kentucky to fire someone for refusing to work mandatory overtime

— Tracy Moore (@iusedtobepoor) December 11, 2021

The notion of local dystopias is an interesting one. Could be that there was an egalitarian paradise unfolding just a continent or two over from Mad Max.

Zardoz is another one. Although The Eternals are mainly a bunch of insufferable bores and their egalitarian paradise is pretty lame, but you wouldn't complain about it if you were being held captive by Charlotte Rampling.

Slave state — apartheid state — Vietnam/Watergate — Corporate state — Fury Road (2016-present)

We didn't start the fire, etc.

Let's see what all we have...you got this one.

US combined laissez-faire capitalism on it's drug industry and combined with heroin blow-back from the 'war on terror' created the opioid epidemic for fun and profit killing over a million Americans since 1999.

Getting back to the topic at hand, Le Guin wrote a book about a moon. Also was there some Cold War global political framework in her gender-bender book? I don't recall.

Climate catastrophe is going to be pretty universal IIRC.

― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, December 11, 2021 1:14 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

which is v little to do with the point about 1492 is it

― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Saturday, December 11, 2021 1:17 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

It is though (unless I'm misreading). The USA is the biggest historical contributor to the climate crisis. An argument could be made that if 1492 never happened, there would be no global crisis. Same for much of global environmental destruction -- Amazon forest all gone? Thank Ronald McDonald.

Local teachers in South Dakota “Dash for Cash” to help their classrooms by fighting over $5,000 in $1 bills while the crowd hoots and hollers. pic.twitter.com/azwGJKhaKU

— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) December 12, 2021

they're going to remove that rug at some point

and then charge them for it!

An argument could be made that if 1492 never happened, there would be no global crisis.

Are we talking a world where Europe never came into contact with the Americas?

I can’t live without potatoes

-LL McCooljay

It would have happened eventually.

I can’t live without potatoes

OTM

Lol, Neanderthal.

yeah my wife was watching this yesterday...is there any word what happened to these people? because that does not seem good

they probably got out bc dudes who look like that always get out

https://www.404media.co/were-fine-los-angeles-wildfires/

We got in the car. We started driving. I watched a driverless Waymo navigate streets in which the traffic lights were out because the power was out. My fiancé took two work meetings on the road, tethered to her phone, our dog sitting on her lap. We stopped at a fast food drive through.

Hot new wellness trans: fire baths

Trend !!!!

the dystopian part of that might be the fiance taking two work meetings on her phone while escaping.

also being engaged to a guy who worked for Vice.

https://dnyuz.com/2025/01/09/the-army-of-god-comes-out-of-the-shadows/

not necessarily limited to the US but a crypto 'prediction market' where people gamble on the extent of wildfires is pretty dystopic!

https://polymarket.com/event/how-many-acres-will-palisades-fire-burn-by-friday?tid=1736377893344

SOMEONE WORKING FOR THE CITY REACHED OUT TO OUR MUTUAL AID FOR MASKS I AM SCREAMING

— hard boiled megg (@badgalmeggy) January 9, 2025

I quit that platform so I can't read the comments but I love a mutual aid + local government partnership! Get it girl. That's power. When they know you can steward resources and connect with people better than they can, you can use that. Mwah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B19qb1Az94

Yeah every few Tiktok videos right now are someone sharing information about the Resnicks in some way! TT does so much work for people with these highly specific bodies of knowledge, allowing them to get their message out, and obv no one knows what the algos are doing on there but I've never been shown the breadth of content and people on any other platform. Not even close. There's been a steep increase in ads and shopping shit that you can scroll right past but is low-key annoying, but even with that change, the access to people and information is invaluable.

I quit that platform so I can't read the comments but I love a mutual aid + local government partnership! Get it girl. That's power. When they know you can steward resources and connect with people better than they can, you can use that. Mwah

on any other platform. Not even close

the www?

Youtube, Fb, IG, Twitter

> Why are those people still in the house???!

i wanna caption it THIS IS FINE

Sorry, sic, were you meaning to point out that the information that content creators bring to Tiktok could also be found online generally? Do you...have you used TT before? It's vastly different than looking things up when you already know that the thing exists and what search terms to use. The "for you" algorithm brings you stuff you would never think of or know about otherwise.

Not gonna happen but it'd be amazing if china managed to cause a proletariat revolution in America just by juicing the TikTok algorithm to build class solidarity.

it'd be amazing

otm

Not gonna happen

otm

China wants Americans buying stuff not having revolutions

the idea that any social media will do anything to harm the ruling classes is laughable.

I quit that platform so I can't read the comments but I love a mutual aid + local government partnership! Get it girl. That's power. When they know you can steward resources and connect with people better than they can, you can use that. Mwah

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Friday, 10 January 2025 bookmarkflaglink

As things fall apart like this people will do what they can with what they have. So yes its good to see.

Headline in São Paulo this weekend : "The USA now has 135% more homeless people than Brazil" pic.twitter.com/s7esUwPkM9

— Vincent Bevins (@Vinncent) January 13, 2025

…

the idea that any social media will do anything to harm the ruling classes is laughable.

but broadsheets and cartoons and such were printed and published either by those sympathetic with the cause or by workers acting in a clandestine fashion. using a multibillion dollar social media platform with a board and staff that want to keep the gravy train going means that such companies first interest is in suppressing dissent against the current order of things. even if that means giving lip service to idea of freedom of speech etc, any attempts will be funneled toward monetization and pacification.

Yeah, social media in its early years showed significant capacity for grassroots organizing. Twitter in particular was crucial in uprisings in Iran and during the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall St. And yet somehow 15-ish years later, that capacity has eroded considerably as algorithms have prioritized revenue generation and those platforms' billionaire owners have reached an ideologically pro-authoritarian consensus.

Vincent Bevins’ latest book kind if gets into this a little, how social media has made dissent recuperable by the ruling classes.

Vincent Bevins’ latest book kind if gets into this a little, how social media has made dissent recuperable by the ruling classes.

This vibe has been hovering in retail for a while now though

https://gizmodo.com/walgreens-regrets-replacing-fridge-doors-with-smart-screens-creating-techno-dystopia-vibes-2000551286?fbclid=IwY2xjawH39XpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHazpwflidbQAG3IMTYdRtK4TRkTxK3BtmfAMLSshzQpzHQcx9prKdwDwMQ_aem_PjyMQspoxCW1S6negvg06Q

amazing

Instead of reliably displaying items that were in stock in the fridge, the screens reportedly regularly flickered, crashed, showed the wrong products, and occasionally caught on fire. (You know what *does* reliably show what is in stock without concerns of spontaneous combustion? Regular glass doors.)

While Walgreens and Cooler Screens went back and forth in court, with Walgreens fighting to exit their agreement early and remove the screens and the startup pushing back for breach of contract, Cooler Screens launched its own retribution campaign. According to Bloomberg, the company intentionally cut the feeds to screens located at more than 100 Walgreens locations, leaving them blacked out and forcing consumers to have to open every single door to try to find what they were looking for.

proud to have been an early complainer about this obviously terrible and dystopian innovation: Technological/practical "backward steps" we all just accept now

New leader begins term by letting white supremacist gang members out of prison. That must have been in a comic book at some point.

Lock thread imo

Create a contrary thread to collect proofs that the US isn't imo
Or is that still the Trump containment thread

y'all i just heard some bad news about my new falconry-based delivery service

Ventura County strawberry workers are harvesting in heavy smoke from the Hughes Fire. We remind workers their employers have to provide them with respirator masks if the AQI exceeds 150. Stay safe! #WeFeedYou pic.twitter.com/sOKXRiQGj6

— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) January 23, 2025

New leader begins term by letting white supremacist gang members out of prison. That must have been in a comic book at some point.

Wasn’t this in a Batman movie?

― sarahell

Yeah, I think the Joker did it.

This pisses me off, really, all of this... you know, "clowns are scary", "clowns are evil", I bought into this shit for so long, and no, no, that's not it. CLOWNS ARE QUEER. Clowns are super fucking queer. I mean, fucking... Harlequins. You think that shit's heterosexual? And this whole clowns as child predators, the same people get pissed at drag storytime.

The cis white men who create these superheroes... I mean Donald Trump has also been compared to Bane, by the cis white guy who created Bane and supports Trump. And that's fucked up. If you look at Bane's backstory, that's really disrespectful to Bane. Like that's racist AF.

I've been thinking about it and Donald Trump is actually worse than most supervillains. If I had to compare him to any villain it would probably be Koquillion from the Doctor Who story "The Rescue". That's not a very good comparison because nobody fucking knows that story. But that's the comparison I'd make.

And this whole clowns as child predators

isn't this specifically just re: john wayne gacy?

they want freezer doors at Walgreens to be giant LCD screens because then they can sell ads on them

my husband’s cost for medications went up by more than 400% overnight because of a Trump executive order.

That's awful table, sorry to hear.

fucking hell

wtaf

Things are getting real bad, real quick. I'm sorry this is happening to you and worry that it's going to be nonstop and escalating stuff like this for a long time.

my husband’s cost for medications went up by more than 400% overnight because of a Trump executive order.

― butt dumb tight my boners got boners (the table is the table), Friday, January 24, 2025 1:09 PM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Absolutely insane.

The Heritage Foundation is a terrorist organization.

Thanks all.

Sorry, table.