How Dystopian Are We Going?

[Jonathan Meer]

I think it's interesting that we've directly mapped the strength of The Net in society to the level of dystopia in that society.

I think we're looking at the society with too much homogeneity. Our world today is dystopic. Here in America, we have millions of impoverished families. A whole continent is ravaged by a vicious plague. Theocratic rebels blow themselves up, all in the name of imposing their religious political system on the world at large. But for all this ugliness, there's still enough room for we lucky few to live a carefree life, playing video games and having enough food and clean water. And our world is less violent than its ever been.

Let's separate the influence of the Net away from 'dystopia', and talk about it on its own. Let's talk about the facts of this society, and leave it to our characters to make value judgments.