NationStates

Dystopias normally aren't supposed to fun. Dystopia (more or less) literally translates to "bad-place". However, when not trying to be as soul-crushing as possible a la "Nineteen Eighty-Four", it could be looked at as just another society where even if you have to live a little differently you can still live.

A good example would be Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". As both religious and a communist, I find the society's consumerism, caste-system, rampant drug use, enforced hedonism, and the literal worship or corporations disgusting with it's only saving grace being the option to leave; there are people who want nothing but hedonism in their lives and I know there are people who won't see any problem with free drugs.

Here's the question. In your own opinion, what kind of society can you imagine that would for all intents and purposes be considered a dystopia to the average observer, but you on a personal level would be perfectly content with, and maybe even to an extent support, the regime in power despite the drawbacks.

For me, it would be Eco-totalitarianism. While being thrown into a reeducation camp would be harsh for leaving a wrapper on the sidewalk, I personally support environmentalism and would be willing to suck up the draconian regulations for the sake of still having a world to live in. I also thought about if I would be able to survive in a theocracy but due to how religion is constantly up to interpretation such a regime would be utterly unpredictable to the point where trusting one would literally be gambling with your life. So for me, I'm just leaving it at the general Eco-totalitarianism.

The current world.

Except Belgium. We're talking tolerable after all.

The Blaatschapen wrote:The current world.

Except Belgium. We're talking tolerable after all.

Belgium is just a lie The Man invented to keep you in line!

"tolerable dystopia" is an oxymoron.

Hmm well maybe the present day US.

Ifreann wrote:

The Blaatschapen wrote:The current world.

Except Belgium. We're talking tolerable after all.

Belgium is just a lie The Man invented to keep you in line!

...

I swear, I will find whoever started that whole "Belgium does not exist" thing and smack them in the face with a pacific northwest tree octopus.

...

You may now continue having a productive conversation.

if you count the silurian period a dystopia yes

The Blaatschapen wrote:The current world.

Except Belgium. We're talking tolerable after all.

I don't get it.

Catochristoferson wrote:"tolerable dystopia" is an oxymoron.

A government can be more lenient or even supportive in areas you care about with whats left being a huge problem to most people who aren't you, so it's still considered a dystopia to the average person. At least that's the way I see it.

Arctica-Aleutia wrote:I swear, I will find whoever started that whole "Belgium does not exist" thing and smack them in the face with a pacific northwest tree octopus.

It was probably started by a Dutch nationalist still ticked off over the two century old division.

Victoriala II wrote:if you count the silurian period a dystopia yes

Never heard of it.

Arctica-Aleutia wrote:

Ifreann wrote:Belgium is just a lie The Man invented to keep you in line!

...

I swear, I will find whoever started that whole "Belgium does not exist" thing and smack them in the face with a pacific northwest tree octopus.

...

You may now continue having a productive conversation.

The Belgians themselves don't even believe Belgium exists.

When asked to sing the Belgian national anthem the prime minister sang la marseillaise instead.

1984

*nods*

Big Brother will always be there for you.

Engleberg wrote:1984

*nods*

Big Brother will always be there for you.

And always watching you as you fap to porn.

I'd say a world run by corporations and consumerism according to what my friends keep telling me but personally I don't see how that would be dystopian in the first place.

When I saw the OP, I immediately thought of this video.

Honestly, I do not know. It all depends on what my lot in that dystopia is, and what the conditions are in each one of them.

Luziyca wrote:When I saw the OP, I immediately thought of this video.

Honestly, I do not know. It all depends on what my lot in that dystopia is, and what the conditions are in each one of them.

Nice video, I actually read Utopia a few years ago.

Anyone else?

Engleberg wrote:1984

*nods*

Big Brother will always be there for you.

Seconded. Big Brother's not so bad once you get to know him.

The Republic of Gilead would be tolerable since it definitely collapses by the books ends anyway. In fact there is a whole thing in the end where they debate whether or not it even existed as described.

Upper-Africa wrote:

Engleberg wrote:1984

*nods*

Big Brother will always be there for you.

Seconded. Big Brother's not so bad once you get to know him.

You will love him. Eventually.

An Atheist, Socialist, Eco-minded Celtic revival state.
That would be okay with me.

A Science-focused military technocracy would also be okay.

San Bolsapaja wrote:

Upper-Africa wrote:Seconded. Big Brother's not so bad once you get to know him.

You will love him. Eventually.

Then be executed as a traitor during hate week of all things.

Ifreann wrote:

The Blaatschapen wrote:The current world.

Except Belgium. We're talking tolerable after all.

Belgium is just a lie The Man invented to keep you in line!

*Laughs in Schlieffen Plan*

For me, such a society already exists in fiction... it's called the "Tau Empire". They're extremely authoritarian with a Caste system based on the different subspecies of their people (with subject races essentially treated as their own castes as well) and their economic system leaves little room for personal choice in career (although this is less of an issue for subject races and more for the Tau themselves). All of these things are an anathema to me. Yet I admire their drive for progress, their openness to others, and their ability to hold onto hope in one of the bleakest grimdark settings ever. Because of that, I would be willing to tolerate living there.

And before anyone brings up forced sterilization... DAWN OF WAR IS NOT CANON!

I probably wouldn't be able to handle any sort of dystopia. I'm just a bit too much of a rebel.

The Islands of Versilia wrote:An Atheist, Socialist, Eco-minded Celtic revival state.
That would be okay with me.

A Science-focused military technocracy would also be okay.

The first part of your post is physically painful.

Tokora wrote:Dystopias normally aren't supposed to fun. Dystopia (more or less) literally translates to "bad-place". However, when not trying to be as soul-crushing as possible a la "Nineteen Eighty-Four", it could be looked at as just another society where even if you have to live a little differently you can still live.

A good example would be Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World". As both religious and a communist, I find the society's consumerism, caste-system, rampant drug use, enforced hedonism, and the literal worship or corporations disgusting with it's only saving grace being the option to leave; there are people who want nothing but hedonism in their lives and I know there are people who won't see any problem with free drugs.

Here's the question. In your own opinion, what kind of society can you imagine that would for all intents and purposes be considered a dystopia to the average observer, but you on a personal level would be perfectly content with, and maybe even to an extent support, the regime in power despite the drawbacks.

For me, it would be Eco-totalitarianism. While being thrown into a reeducation camp would be harsh for leaving a wrapper on the sidewalk, I personally support environmentalism and would be willing to suck up the draconian regulations for the sake of still having a world to live in. I also thought about if I would be able to survive in a theocracy but due to how religion is constantly up to interpretation such a regime would be utterly unpredictable to the point where trusting one would literally be gambling with your life. So for me, I'm just leaving it at the general Eco-totalitarianism.

Tolerable dystopia is inherently contradictory.

The World State from Brave New World is not a dystopia, and the author quite consciously shunned this concept. He preferred the concept of a "negative utopia", a society that is a good idea gone wrong, compared to the go-to dystopia like Oceania in 1984, which is a bad idea gone horribly right.

The World State is horrifying because it chooses the quickest route towards maintaining hedonist utilitarianism. It maims people prenatally to divide them into castes based on intelligence. The brute labor of civilization is done by those who aren't intelligent enough to be really susceptible to ennui or other intellectual maladies. It works everyone just enough so they won't become bored, and gives them just enough leisure time to keep them sated. It's also pretty much obliterated the concept of art, because art and suffering are believed to go hand in hand.

Brave New World is a world where people's animal needs are met at the expense of their human needs. Alphas like the decoy protagonist Bernard Marx are kept busy with the work of administrating the state, and those that are disaffected get exiled to remote Islands, and have to deal with living in a society consisting only of people who'd been cultured into being genius egomaniacs.

The Third Reich. The New Order established by said reich. A corporatist dictatorship. The sort of world envisioned in Shodowrun.