I am less than thrilled.

[Doktor Howl]

PREDICTION:  Flying cars.
REALITY:  Hummers and SUVs.

PREDICTION:  Sex robots on my lap.
REALITY:  Porn bots on my internet.

PREDICTION:  Enlightened society, where robots do all the shit work.
REALITY:  DHS and child slavery.

Yes, this future is lacking.  I mean, there's lots of cool shit, but saying that this future is vindicated by the cool shit is sort of like saying Nazi Germany was vindicated by kickass torch-lit parades and snappy black uniforms.  You can polish a turd all you like, it still stinks.

So how did we get here?  That's kind of obvious...We got the future we demanded.  Consider:

We wanted to be scared. 911 scared us so much that the only thing that's still scary is the shit we started because we were scared.  We built a monster to show those smudgy people a thing or two, and then we scared the shit out of each other when we learned that Saint Verthaine was right; the monster wasn't very picky about its diet.

We wanted cheap crap, cheap.  Then we learned that the only way to make cheap anything is by slavery, whether that be wage slavery (immigrants picking crops) or outright slavery (the kids who built the computer or phone you are reading this on).  This upsets us, because we all hate slavery...Just not enough to do anything about it.

We wanted to be the leaders of the free world.  Then we woke up one day, pummelling some 3rd world country into bloody pulp, because they had their own ideas about what "the free world" means.   

We wanted to be exceptionalists.  Then we wonder why everyone hates us the way people would have hated anyone in the Roman era that had the coveted title "citizen of Rome". 

I could go on, but you get the point.  This future is substandard, and I think it's high time we demanded either a refund or an exchange.  Of course, the people we will be demanding it from sort of include ourselves, so we'd best be pretty Goddamn helpful at the customer service desk, if you know what I mean.  And I think you do.

So before you waltz up to yourself at that counter, with Angry Town Hall Meeting all over your face, consider that that attitude is HOW YOU GOT HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.  Instead, maybe you'd better sit down with a cup of joe and maybe DECIDE WHAT IT IS THAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT.  Begin the revolution with THE END IN MIND.  Because we've all seen the results of seat-of-your-pants, thinking with your gut revolutions, haven't we?

And you'd better figure it out before I do, is all I'm saying.  Because in MY future, I will be doing my little Can-Can on the ashes of the mantis-gnawed ruins of your city, singing my little song all to myself.  Because there will be nobody else to listen, only your GRINS to spur me to greater feats of dancing.

That is all.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

We wanted cheap crap, cheap.  Then we learned that the only way to make cheap anything is by slavery, whether that be wage slavery (immigrants picking crops) or outright slavery (the kids who built the computer or phone you are reading this on).  This upsets us, because we all hate slavery...Just not enough to do anything about it.

Yeah. All those years screeching about "$4.99 for a bag of DOG FOOD? Are you OUTTA YOUR MIND? JESUS FUCK." should have been "PAY ME A FUCKING LIVING WAGE SO I CAN KEEP UP WITH THESE PRICES, SHITSOCKET."

Hindsight 20/20, etc.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I'm not sure what sort of future I would want, other than lots of space travel.

[Doktor Howl]

I'm not sure what sort of future I would want, other than lots of space travel.

Well, YOU aren't getting any space travel if we build that sort of thing on the backs of miserable people stuck on Earth; you will without doubt be one of the miserable ones.  So will I.

You want space travel and shit like that?  You have to fix shit here first.

[Cramulus]

Yeah, I always read about emerging tech with a mix of fascination and horror, kind of like passing by a car wreck.

Like 3d printing --- it has all this shiny potential. We become our own manufacturers! We won't need to rely on China for cheap plastic goods and shitty Xmas toys! Everybody can be a designer! yeah, and then we will be hospitalized after being shot with an inaccurate plastic gun which a 10 year old printed out in his garage. And then the wheels on the gurney will snap off because they were also made in a garage by a hobbyist.

If I could freeze technology in one moment in time - and I know I'm being overly romantic - I would want us to stay in the late 90s. You remember all those movies like Hackers where spunky teenagers are empowered by the same technology which mystifies adults? I could deal with them being the villains again. I vaguely recall the movie The Net, in which audiences were amazed that Sandra Bullock could order a pizza over AOL. That was a time when people were like, "This could potentially get scary!" rather than "OMG the NSA is liveblogging my sexts."

[AFK]

I honestly think we're better off not having flying cars.  I'm not sure your standard windshield wipers could handle splattered seagull.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I have an idea to riff with when i get home tonight after trivia

[Cramulus]

It's like you say though, Rog -- this is the world we wanted. We couldn't have it any other way.

I remember Bill O'Reilley (I think? maybe tucker carlson) asking Jon Stewart if he thought so and so presidential candidate was the best guy for the job. And Stewart seemed to wince - no, he's probably not the best guy for the job. He's the guy that the democratic process selected. The process isn't designed to select the best guy. It selects the guy who can best work his way though the process.

Man, I remember the patriot act passing like it was yesterday. I wish there was some kind of magic switch you could hit that would make people less afraid and less likely to jump into these lethal and expensive "safety" precautions. Because it's true, this is what we wanted.

It's the sad truth of democracy... I hear people say "Individuals are smart, groups are stupid." and everybody's nodding their heads. But yet that's the exact principle of democracy - what we choose isn't necessarily the best it's just the least bad. But until there's some alternative that actually works, I think we're stuck with it.

[LMNO]

In B4 Philosopher Kings.

[Doktor Howl]

It's like you say though, Rog -- this is the world we wanted. We couldn't have it any other way.

And now everyone's crying.  It's like they're not serious about having a good time.

Man, I remember the patriot act passing like it was yesterday. I wish there was some kind of magic switch you could hit that would make people less afraid and less likely to jump into these lethal and expensive "safety" precautions. Because it's true, this is what we wanted.

I remember that screwhead Tom Daschle, the democrat minority whip, screaming at Russ Feingold that he had to vote for it without reading it because there wasn't time, and "President Bush needs this".

That's all I really needed to know about it. ONE (1) Senator said "No, I can't vote for this without reading it first."  Needless to say, Feingold was washed away by a vengeful tide of po'buckers and replaced with some Tea Party asshat because Wisconsin.

It's the sad truth of democracy... I hear people say "Individuals are smart, groups are stupid." and everybody's nodding their heads. But yet that's the exact principle of democracy - what we choose isn't necessarily the best it's just the least bad. But until there's some alternative that actually works, I think we're stuck with it.

Democracy is not the least bad.  Neither is a representational republic.  You won't get anywhere quoting that old fascist Churchhill.  Fact of the matter is, the best form of government is a constitutional monarchy, primate-wise.  I am against that, too, though...On account of misanthropy and wanting the yahoos to get everything they scream for.  Good & hard.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Newsflash - this isn't the future. It's the past. It's the fall of the roman empire. It's the fall of the british empire. It's the third reich, trying to hold two overextended lines... It's the decline of every civilisation that ever raised itself out of the mire and stomped the ever loving fuck out most of the hemisphere, only to find out that it's impossible for talking monkeys to keep a lid on an operation that big.

So, okay, now we have awesome technology, instead of an actual bona-fide military force but it's the same idea. We watch scary propaganda on huge flat HD screens instead of listening to guys in funny hats but our technology is the only thing that's evolved. We're still a couple of dozen talking monkeys, beating the shit out of a couple of dozen talking monkeys cos the big talking monkey with the white back won't give us any bananas if we don't.

In broader cultural terms there is no future and there is no past. Nothing really changes. Monkeys just hoot and lob increasingly complex shit at each other, frozen in in prehistoric time. Then make really dumb faces like they're actually surprised that they somehow ended up all covered with shit.

What's not to like?

[Doktor Howl]

Newsflash - this isn't the future. It's the past. It's the fall of the roman empire. It's the fall of the british empire. It's the third reich, trying to hold two overextended lines... It's the decline of every civilisation that ever raised itself out of the mire and stomped the ever loving fuck out most of the hemisphere, only to find out that it's impossible for talking monkeys to keep a lid on an operation that big.

So, okay, now we have awesome technology, instead of an actual bona-fide military force but it's the same idea. We watch scary propaganda on huge flat HD screens instead of listening to guys in funny hats but our technology is the only thing that's evolved. We're still a couple of dozen talking monkeys, beating the shit out of a couple of dozen talking monkeys cos the big talking monkey with the white back won't give us any bananas if we don't.

In broader cultural terms there is no future and there is no past. Nothing really changes. Monkeys just hoot and lob increasingly complex shit at each other, frozen in in prehistoric time. Then make really dumb faces like they're actually surprised that they somehow ended up all covered with shit.

What's not to like?

I told you guys FOUR YEARS AGO that time was all stretchy and shit.  Did you listen?  Of course not, let's all watch Dok scream and shit himself some more, but for fuck's sake don't LISTEN.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

We wanted cheap crap, cheap.  Then we learned that the only way to make cheap anything is by slavery, whether that be wage slavery (immigrants picking crops) or outright slavery (the kids who built the computer or phone you are reading this on).  This upsets us, because we all hate slavery...Just not enough to do anything about it.

Yeah. All those years screeching about "$4.99 for a bag of DOG FOOD? Are you OUTTA YOUR MIND? JESUS FUCK." should have been "PAY ME A FUCKING LIVING WAGE SO I CAN KEEP UP WITH THESE PRICES, SHITSOCKET."

Hindsight 20/20, etc.

Living wages actually boost economies.

this corner cutting shit is counterproductive.

[Doktor Howl]

We wanted cheap crap, cheap.  Then we learned that the only way to make cheap anything is by slavery, whether that be wage slavery (immigrants picking crops) or outright slavery (the kids who built the computer or phone you are reading this on).  This upsets us, because we all hate slavery...Just not enough to do anything about it.

Yeah. All those years screeching about "$4.99 for a bag of DOG FOOD? Are you OUTTA YOUR MIND? JESUS FUCK." should have been "PAY ME A FUCKING LIVING WAGE SO I CAN KEEP UP WITH THESE PRICES, SHITSOCKET."

Hindsight 20/20, etc.

Living wages actually boost economies.

this corner cutting shit is counterproductive.

Of course it is.  But corporations, for the most part, are only allowed to see things in terms of the very next financial quarter.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Riff:

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php/topic,34979.new.html#new

Angle 2 in the works.