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stronglikedantoday at 1:57 PM2 repliesview on HN

The current situation was foretold 20 years ago in the prescient documentary named Idiocracy.


Replies

afavourtoday at 2:13 PM

I’d argue Idiocracy is actually quite the opposite of what the OP was talking about. It has a mildly eugenics-y vibe where the world is bad because poor, stupid people have poor, stupid kids that outnumber the smart ones.

OP is talking about something environmental that can affect anyone.

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mindslighttoday at 2:54 PM

Idiocracy is downright optimistic compared to our current society.

Citizens have one single piece of identification, and it's not even electronic. Their location is only tracked when discrete scanners manage to see that identification. Medical care is provided promptly. Joe Bowers's court case wasn't decided by political meddling, and the two minute hates were only focused on him after he was found guilty. There are security holes in the implementation of the prison that allow intelligent individuals to escape the machine. The president has leadership, speaking ability, policy planning, honesty, work ethic, intelligence, humility, and outright patriotism. Starbucks seems like respectable open employment for adults rather than children being trafficked to some island in secret. Joe Bower's aptitude was eventually recognized and appreciated - the society wants to get better.

Like all sci-fi, Idiocracy was largely a reflection of the society it was written in. A society that had values we've long since given up on.

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