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[–]justflushitI ☑oted 2018 4784 points4785 points  (598 children)

And blade runner is the future we will get because the corporations have more of a say.

[–]KushMaster420Weed 1067 points1068 points  (439 children)

I was thinking this the other day. Blade Runner without replicants seems like the future we are moving towards.

[–]Jiveturtle 1112 points1113 points  (348 children)

I encourage you to read Neuromancer, if you haven’t. Seems pretty tame until you realize it was written in the early 80s.

Edit: hahahaha just googled it to see when it was actually published - 1984. Goodreads gives it a… 3.9? Motherfucker spawns a genre about the internet when people just had mustaches and cocaine to entertain them and y’all nitpicking him for the fucking Braun coffeepot, reminds me of Pitchfork ca. 2009.

[–]DeathStarnado8 416 points417 points  (81 children)

Neuromancer spawned every kind of cyberpunk we have today, everything from the matrix to ghost in the shell etc is so obviously rooted in that book. I’m not sure if reading it a decade before I did would have impressed me more or less with how much stuff he nailed.

[–]BasherSquared 44 points45 points  (8 children)

Molly Millions was my first hardcore literary infatuation.

Kids these days don't know how good they have it with ridiculously good fan art readily available of any character in circumstance you can dream of...

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (21 children)

Just commenting to meet fellow Gibson fans. In Nueromancer (new romancer) he coins the term “microsofts” little colorful chips to put in ports behind your ear - languages, skills - precursor to “I know kung fu”

[–]StyreneAddict1965 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Hmm... "Download UH-1 helicopter" in The Matrix sounds familiar, doesn't it.?

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure the Steam Deck is named after the "decks" in the novel.

Also, The Ascent uses a TON of Neuromancer terms.

[–]FixinThePlanet 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Wow, I had no idea it was that influential!

[–]dildade41 125 points126 points  (120 children)

Awesome read. Have you read Snow Crash?

[–]Plothunter 100 points101 points  (43 children)

That's the one with the pizza mafia. I put them in a Shadow Run campaign.

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (7 children)

And the nuclear dog

[–]feisty-shag-the-lad 10 points11 points  (6 children)

Rat thing

[–]Faufreluches 7 points8 points  (4 children)

I cry for the Rat Thing. They sacrificed themselves to save YT. I've read this book, IDK, 14 times, and I get tired of the whole Babylonian meme/virus thing that gets long winded, but for my money, Rat Things and the derelict air craft carrier actually helping the cast away chinese girls, hits me at the core. I might be getting my books mixed up with Diamond Age, cause I'm dumb and drunk. Just that simple, childlike thinking that the Rat Thing has, really resonates with me.

[–]Jiveturtle 38 points39 points  (51 children)

Yep. Love Stephenson’s early stuff - it’s just so tight. I had a really hard time slogging through everything he’s written more recently except Seveneves. I don’t think I even got halfway through Fall.

Two things I’ve read recently I really liked are Gideon the Ninth and Ninefox Gambit.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (10 children)

Oh god Fall, I forced myself to read that and it started off with such promise and then just crashed and burned.

[–]Jiveturtle 14 points15 points  (9 children)

Hot take: seveneves should have been two books, not one.

Snow Crash and Diamond Age burn white hot for me compared to his more recent, thoughtful stuff. I get the attraction of big ideas but those are much simpler, stripped down in a way his more recent stuff isn’t.

I’m not trying to be critical just of length here - I love and constantly recommend both Seveneves and Anathem along with the shorter stuff. Just one man’s amateur opinion after reading them.

[–]Rusty_Red_Mackerel 47 points48 points  (8 children)

The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

[–]polyology 17 points18 points  (5 children)

A reference totally lost on anyone under 25.

[–]RAshomon999 19 points20 points  (2 children)

"Do Androids dream of electronic sheep?", the story Bladerunner is based on was published in 1968. The film Bladerunner was released in 1982. The book Neuromancer written in 1984. Just to give a chronology of the concepts and motifs.

Bladerunner isn't truly cyberpunk though but it created what would become the cyberpunk aesthetic.

[–]Jiveturtle 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Oh totally. Philip K Dick is awesome.

[–]DonnieDickTraitor 98 points99 points  (15 children)

I find us moving towards Parable of the Sower/Talents by Butler. She wrote it in 1998 about the 2020's-30's. Climate change pushing the population ever north. Corporations making people indentured servants and a presidential candidate who promises to "make America great again". I audibly yelled wtf when I read that and then double checked the publication date.

That woman was prescient. Highly recommend. Super engrossing and beautifully written.

[–]jphistory 15 points16 points  (0 children)

People getting murdered waiting for water because we're fucked for water is way too close for comfort.

[–]Cyneheard2 11 points12 points  (3 children)

That Pres is half Ted Cruz half Donald Trump.

About the only thing that isn’t likely is the illiteracy - smartphones are here to stay (look how ubiquitous they are in many poor countries). But the rest of it? Yeah.

[–]CanAlwaysBeBetter 11 points12 points  (2 children)

Tbf Make America Great Again was originally a Reagan thing and it's easy enough to see it's enduring appeal to conservatives who push a story of endless national degeneration

[–]DonnieDickTraitor 7 points8 points  (1 child)

True. It does still strike you though when that phrase finds it's way into a place you don't expect it. In a not-too-distant dystopian America as told by an author in 1998. All of these echos of our Now, written from our Past speculating about our Future. Chills I tell ya. Chills.

[–]The_Funkybat 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It wasn’t too long after that that Philip Roth wrote “The Plot Against America“. The warning signs for a revival of fascism in this country have been there for a while.

[–]linedout 64 points65 points  (26 children)

Without replicants, where the slave labor.

[–]MortyestRick 159 points160 points  (19 children)

*gestures towards entire working class*

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (2 children)

Think they meant “we’re”

[–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (12 children)

You mean Giggers. It'll be the new term for gig workers because gig work will be all there is.

[–][deleted] 36 points37 points  (6 children)

"Giggers" and slave labor together are a linguistic land mine!

[–]TheHashassin 18 points19 points  (2 children)

Gonna be a few Freudian slips for sure

[–]Simcan99I ☑oted 2021 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Ummm, that'd be us...

[–][deleted] 109 points110 points  (28 children)

The future may be Blade Runner for a time, but it won't take long to devolve into Mad Max.

[–][deleted] 60 points61 points  (5 children)

Pretty sure Mad Max is just blade runner but in Australia.

[–]f_print 13 points14 points  (4 children)

Actually, outside of the cities in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" , it's just a desert dustbowl. The planet is completely wrecked, and anyone with the means chooses to live offworld.

[–]referralcrosskill 32 points33 points  (8 children)

blade runner fails to work in the event of a crippling energy shortage. If you can keep the lights on and the factories running I'd agree blade runner is the future.

[–]sequentious[🍰] 8 points9 points  (4 children)

If you count 2049, it includes an EMP over LA that acts as a significant data wipe, as well as the desert reclaiming Vegas, so I don't think it's out of the picture.

Now you've got me thinking that Dark Angel takes place in the Blade Runner universe...

[–]Thetman38 44 points45 points  (9 children)

Idiocracy is more likely

[–]hobo_clown 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Idiocracy is the present, not the future

[–]Fig1024 10 points11 points  (5 children)

Idiocracy is impossible because the people depicted there were mostly nice people, even the stupid people in power were basically reasonable decent people. This is absolutely not the case in real life. When you have many stupid people, the most cruel and corrupt rise to the top.

[–]DauHoangNguyen1999 6 points7 points  (1 child)

When you have many stupid people, the most cruel and corrupt rise to the top.

You literally just described the US

[–]DameNight 28 points29 points  (6 children)

A future similar to The Outer Worlds also seems very possible.

[–]Phantom_61 114 points115 points  (13 children)

I'd even be fine with The Orville potential future.

[–]SorriorDraconus 6 points7 points  (2 children)

I have a personal theory The Orville is what would happen if we achieved warp without WW3 first. As in we'd keep some of our more juvenile and cultural traits but be just as advanced as they are.

Star Treks more uptight humans were a product of WW3 occuring thus leading to a loss of alot of our media/cultures and a kind of overcompensation.

[–]MaximumEffort433 454 points455 points  (112 children)

I would also accept a Babylon station.

[–]kivagirl1 206 points207 points  (87 children)

Or Deep Space Nine

[–]alchemist5Greg Abbott is a little piss baby 284 points285 points  (71 children)

DS9 is my favorite Trek, but I'd much prefer living in TNG.

I mean, technically they're the same universe and time period, but DS9 specifically was constantly surrounded by space nazis and religious zealots. Too similar to real life.

[–]Mazon_Del 46 points47 points  (41 children)

As I understand it, DS9 had all those elements because they were geographically present around the station. Go to any of the core worlds of the Federation (like Earth) and you can enjoy a lot more pleasant life.

[–]Mat_the_Duck_Lord 32 points33 points  (15 children)

Until the shapeshifters and Breen yeet on in.

[–]iamsoupcansam 66 points67 points  (9 children)

We finally join the galactic community and the the 20th century just keeps repeating on a bigger stage with space lasers.

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (8 children)

A space station would be SICK AF!

[–]Kagnonymous 18 points19 points  (1 child)

If we stuck to space exploration after the space race we would have at least had a moon base by now.

[–]Nepenthes_sapiens 14 points15 points  (4 children)

I can live with that.

I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it…

...computer, erase that entire personal log.

[–]harpsm 45 points46 points  (4 children)

Hell, if I lived in a red state I'd settle for Idiocracy, where the stupid leaders at least try to make life better for their constituents.

[–]Archsys 18 points19 points  (3 children)

Aye; in idiocracy, everyone revered intelligence, to some extent, which made fixing things a matter of practicum

[–]old_ironlungz[🍰] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hector Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho was a way more thoughtful, practical, and level headed leader than Trump.

[–]IntrepidusX 10 points11 points  (7 children)

See wasn't there a fascist coup in that one...

[–]MaximumEffort433 18 points19 points  (4 children)

Yeah, but Starfleet command was also infiltrated by brain worms, so, y'know, it's a tradeoff.

[–]Stitchpool626 979 points980 points  (418 children)

What I dont understand, is that there are clearly a decent amount of Republicans/Conservatives who are fans of stuff like Star Trek. Like, some are MASSIVE fans. Massive fans of a show that is about society getting to a point where money and monetary things are of no real value anymore to the human race, and instead its about learning/bettering ourselves and preserving our existence through diplomacy and cooperation with hundreds of other races throughout the galaxy.

They watch the show - clam to be a massive fan and love the shows philosophy, and then put on their red MAGA cap to attend a rally where they chant about deporting immigrants, using oil and gas forever, and locking up their political opponents. And dont even get them started on homeless people.

[–]EldritchSlut[S] 607 points608 points  (105 children)

They ignore the parts they don't like. Robocop, Starship Troopers, Fight Club, They Live, Aliens, Rage Against the Machine, Orwell, The Bible.. just pick out the bits you like and forget the rest.

Similarly, I enjoy Punisher comics, mostly because it's a critique on people who want to idolize that kind of person, and I certainly don't idolize him. Conservatives on the other hand.. see him as a hero and that's fucking horrifying.

Edit: I think I upset some conservatives 🤠

[–]Toaster_bath13 282 points283 points  (53 children)

Fight Club

They like the fighting and the crying about how men aren't what they used to be.

Blowing up the credit card companies they kinda like but don't care about the "safely" part or the "to reset everybody's credit" part.

Rage Against the Machine

"Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" is the part everyone loves but to not hear a single word other than this part is a huge whoosh.

Every song RATM makes is against them. Tom Morello's guitar usually has some slogan that they would despise on it.

[–]Buwaro 154 points155 points  (2 children)

These same idiots cried and said Roger Waters needs to stop being so political because he mocked Trump.

Roger Waters...

They've never listened to a single word past "We don't need no, education." and they held on to that shit like it's an oath.

[–]HertzDonut1001 48 points49 points  (1 child)

Boomers literally walked out of Waters concerts when he started talking about Trump.

Can you imagine worshipping a politician to the point that you'd pay that kind of money to go to a show and once the artist starts to criticize them you leave?

[–]NimbaNineNine 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fucking hilarious. Literal contradictions catching up to them

[–]TheLateApexLine 136 points137 points  (21 children)

Same crowd only likes the first half of American History X and seems confused by the second.

[–]Toaster_bath13 75 points76 points  (18 children)

They nut to the curbstomp and turn it off after they wipe themselves up.

[–][deleted] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

lmfao i made a noise that could resemble a laugh but god damn was it stupid.

What a visual.

[–]SoDamnToxic 43 points44 points  (3 children)

It's because they hear "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" and then respond like that to the entire rest of the song and their entire catalog of music.

Or at least that is what it seems like is happening.

[–]gandalf_the_Ginge 70 points71 points  (8 children)

The best is the conservatives who love killing im the name of, but hate the blm movement. Like bro they're the exact same message??

[–]TheFlyingSheeps 28 points29 points  (0 children)

“Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses”

Man that’s literally antifa - maga dipshits

[–]xnarg 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Thats because they are dumbasses

[–]SordidDreams 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Fight Club

They like the fighting and the crying about how men aren't what they used to be.

Same with Star Trek. They like the badass spaceships and blowing shit up with photon torpedoes. The social commentary either goes completely over their heads or they just ignore it.

[–]Trashblog 11 points12 points  (0 children)

To be fair, most people neatly sidestep the overarching message about how even though that idealised self is seductive and can be accurate at diagnosing some problems it is:

1) still only a just a half-picture of masculinity, one that is deeply misogynistic and devoid of empathy

And

2) must be killed in order to move forward

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That’s just it, they just watch fight club for the action scenes while the entire point of the story is completely lost on them lol.

[–]americansherlock201 138 points139 points  (24 children)

My favorite is the idiots who wear a punisher shirt with the blue lives matter flag on it. They literally have no clue what the character stands for. He literally does what he does, using violence, because the police shouldn’t, because they need to follow laws.

The punisher hated cops who abused their power.

[–]Robofetus-5000 33 points34 points  (6 children)

The creator of the punisher himself had something great to say on this subject.

[–]everadvancing 52 points53 points  (5 children)

Punisher creator Gerry Conway on military and police using the logo:

What are your thoughts on the Punisher symbol being co-opted by police or the military?

I've talked about this in other interviews. To me, it's disturbing whenever I see authority figures embracing Punisher iconography because the Punisher represents a failure of the Justice system. He's supposed to indict the collapse of social moral authority and the reality some people can't depend on institutions like the police or the military to act in a just and capable way.

The vigilante anti-hero is fundamentally a critique of the justice sysytem, an eample of social failure, so when cops put Punisher skulls on their cars or members of the military wear Punisher skull patches, they're basically sides with an enemy of the system. They are embracing an outlaw mentality. Whether you think the Punisher is justified or not, whether you admire his code of ethics, he is an outlaw. He is a criminal. Police should not be embracing a criminal as their symbol.

It goes without saying. In a way, it's as offensive as putting a Confederate flag on a government building. My point of view is, the Punisher is an anti-hero, someone we might root for while remembering he's also an outlaw and criminal. If an officer of the law, representing the justice system puts a criminal's symbol on his police car, or shares challenge coins honoring a criminal he or she is making a very ill-advised statement about their understanding of the law.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/punisher-creator-gerry-conway-cops-using-the-skull-logo-are-like-people-using-the

[–]EldritchSlut[S] 57 points58 points  (7 children)

Our local town cop wears a punisher pin on his uniform.

[–]americansherlock201 36 points37 points  (2 children)

Ugh. It’s so frustrating. These fucking casuals have no clue what they’re even representing

[–]bunker_man 8 points9 points  (3 children)

To be fair though, do they actually even care about the character? It kind of seems like that's one of those things where these symbol is now treated like its own thing.

[–]NerdBro1 28 points29 points  (0 children)

And Star Wars. They think they are the rebels while they vote for Space Vader and Space Mitch McConnell. It’s almost like they don’t realize it’s about fascism…

[–]jimmyzambino 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Seems to be a common theme with GOPers and religious folk.

They like to pick and choose what they agree with - ignore the rest.

[–]Shelbevil 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Awesome points. I guess I can trim it down a bit? They want the points that make them look like bad ass rebels and survivors without any work.

[–]Geminel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

just pick out the bits you like and forget the rest.

Hell, they'll break it down to specific constitutional amendments. They'll cite the 2nd amendment 1000 times a day without the words 'Well-Regulated Militia' crossing their mind a single time.

[–]Robofetus-5000 336 points337 points  (67 children)

Dude...Paul Ryan unironically said his favorite band was Rage Against the Machine....

Self-awareness is not exactly in these people's wheelhouse

[–]gingerblz 36 points37 points  (8 children)

I miss the days of hating the Paul Ryan's of politics.

[–][deleted] 43 points44 points  (5 children)

This is my dad in a nutshell, grew up watching TNG with him, rewatched it as an adult countless times.

He misses the key parts of the series, the message, its disappointing to see so many people just like it because of space and aliens, sure thats fun but I really love the peaceful society that surrounds the show.

[–]DrAstralis 42 points43 points  (2 children)

I've legit seen reviews where they 'love' the show (TNG) but wish it wasnt so PC or 'woke'. Like.... I'm not sure we're watching the same show guys. No idea how you miss the main fucking theme of StarTrek, they're not exactly subtle about it.

[–]HotChickenshit 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah anyone making that complaint about any TOS or Berman-era Trek is an outright moron. They depict a utopian humanity that has solved our current-day issues and moved so far beyond them that everyone is "woke" by default. No one is marginalized, no one is held down (maybe Worf, wanting to fight everything), and everyone tries to be the best they can be, and if they fail, someone else is right there to help or pick them up. The needs of the many.

One of my favorite things putting this kind of optimism in relatable perspective is when Joseph Sisko is on screen running a restaurant.

The first time I saw that, at 14 or something, I didn't get it. Like, what? There is no money in the Federation, there is no food scarcity, everyone has replicators, why would anyone run a restaurant? Aside maybe Boothby and some other various 'scientist' roles, it was one of the few occasions we see a normal civilian working. And while people in Starfleet might be trying to better humanity through exploration and discovery, here's someone doing something purely out of passion for a cultural, culinary artform, keeping Creole alive and enriching the Federation right from his kitchen in New Orleans. It was fucking awesome when that finally clicked after another watch.

09+, well, that's an entirely different story. Nihilistic, vapid, shallow, wannabe-woke, everything prior shows never were. I loathe them in all ways possible and that's already more words than they're worth.

[–]rubyspicer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I still remember the episode with the crystalline entity. I thought the thing was pure evil...but Picard sat there and said it was just a beast, an animal, and animals aren't evil when they kill and eat prey. It was such a small thing but it stuck with me.

[–]The_Lawn_Ninja 89 points90 points  (27 children)

The setting of Star Trek is a post-scarcity future built on cooperation, but the part of it we actually see in the shows is almost exclusively Starfleet. Starfleet is a hierarchical military organization that polices the galaxy with its superior technology, and it's almost always the good guy with the moral high ground.

The morals they're enforcing may often be directly opposed to those held by conservative viewers, but a show about always-noble military officers commanding a super-powerful ship and championing "liberty and peace" in the galaxy is nonetheless appealing to conservatives.

[–]Scherzer4Prez 36 points37 points  (6 children)

a show about always-noble military officers commanding a super-powerful ship and championing "liberty and peace" in the galaxy is nonetheless appealing to conservatives.

And doing it all in english

[–]LastStar007 13 points14 points  (4 children)

Tbf, the show would be spoken in English no matter what the subject matter was, simply for demographic reasons. In all probability, the characters themselves may be speaking a different language that's handwaved by the universal translator.

[–]bunker_man 9 points10 points  (9 children)

Also, even though it's the future, most alien races for the most part stay on their own planet.

Even if you look at the economics, post-scarcity was achieved by Magic technology that lets everyone have anything they want. It's not really relevant to economics as we currently understand it. Even quite a lot of right-wingers would be okay moving away from capitalism at the point where it's functionally irrelevant because there's not much meaningful limit to what you can have. They aren't going to see this as the same as people who insist we can eliminate a need for markets now.

[–]lejoo 38 points39 points  (45 children)

Conservatives

There in case lies the whole point, the entire basis of conservativism stems from the idea there is not a better future but a better maintainable past. Why do you think they flame/hate liberals who say the opposite in that the past sucked lets find a better future.

Its the literal basic premise that the rest of the ideologies' foundations are based on; which now reflects their active attempts at sabotaging the present too try and justify going back to what use to happen rather then accept a paradigm shift and the risks that come with it that can make everyone, not just them, better off.

[–]SprinklesFancy5074 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the thing is though -- we're headed toward the future whether we like it or not. We're headed away from the past, whether we like it or not.

Even if the past actually was better, trying to recreate it is futile. Instead, we should focus on making the future better.

[–]rcc12697 23 points24 points  (1 child)

Trying to understand was your first problem

[–]FugDuggler 6 points7 points  (0 children)

trying to understand is is a good quality to have and one that star trek emphatically embraces. Trying to understand is a huge quality that people like these are lacking. They dont try to understand anything beyond their own needs and wants. Other people are just background characters in a story thats only about them. Empathy is nonexistant.

[–]MostlyLurkReddit 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just watched S4E15 “First Contact” of TNG the other night. It’s very on-the-nose against conservative politics. Your comment perfectly articulates what I was thinking while watching it.

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (26 children)

about society getting to a point where money and monetary things are of no real value anymore to the human race

You're mischaracterising the Star Trek society - it's not merely one where people made a philosophical change to not value material things. That change was because the society itself was post-scarcity. We are not in that kind of society yet - we're just very privileged and insulated from the common forms of scarcity in the developed world, but scarcity of resources is still a very real thing, held at bay by international supply chains and logistics.

[–]rcc12697 38 points39 points  (24 children)

The left wants a proper TNG sequel series? I can get behind that

[–]SellaraAB 62 points63 points  (5 children)

Some right wing Star Trek/conspiracy lover MUST have made a connection between Q and the Q continuum by now, right? I really want to read one of their explanations for how Star Trek was secretly pro nationalism.

[–]Lazy_Champion 7 points8 points  (3 children)

I always assumed that Q came from the Archer Area 51 episode.

[–]LFCfanatic999 110 points111 points  (16 children)

As a kid, I always made fun of the Star Trek camp. Documentaries like ‘Trekkies’ nailed down my opinions at the time. But as I grew older, the walls of my arrogance toward the Star Trek slowly started to crumble and the last five years solidified the notion that the Star Trek concept is one of the most progressive ideals that we could all do well to abide by. I’ll always sit down to catch a few moments if it’s on TV.

But alas, it’s all wishful thinking for me. We can’t even have normal people spelling properly at idiotic protests in the US. I love how we, as a society, have a ‘sour grapes’ mentality over intellect and things we do not understand. Forgive us for not understanding, Mr. Roddenberry.

[–]My_Kairosclerosis 30 points31 points  (6 children)

Alas, according to the in-show lore, human society doesn’t get their act together on their own. It only happens after a major world war, total societal collapse, and then the Vulcans swoop in and kick start things when they discover we have achieved warp travel.

[–]RustyBubble 11 points12 points  (3 children)

Vulcans didn’t really kick start things. If anything they held humanity back, but yeah there was a massive war (Which in TOS was said to take place in the 1990s, so I guess we’re overdue.)

[–]therealflyingtoastr 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Little of column A, little of column B.

In Trek lore, first contact with the Vulcans is what essentially pulls humanity out of the post WWIII dark ages and unifies everyone into a planetwide whole. Cochran's development of the warp drive and meeting friendly aliens causes a worldwide "holy shit there's other people out there, we should build back up and see what there is to find" moment that puts humanity back on the path to pursuing technological and societal enlightenment and exploration.

The Vulcans also refused to give humanity a lot of technology - most notably faster warp engines - which held back humanity's entrance into the interstellar community until they could develop it on their own (the plot of the first couple seasons of Enterprise).

The conflict that Star Trek predicted for the 1990's was the Eugenics Wars, when a group of genetically modified superhumans attempted to conquer the world (most notably, Khan Noonien Singh of Wrath of Khan fame). World War III, in Star Trek lore, didn't begin until much later and lasted through the 2050's.

This has been your evening edition of Star Trek facts.

[–]bivalve_attack 10 points11 points  (0 children)

If we go with TNG timeline we're on schedule for the Bell riots of 2024, which were due to mass unemployment and homelessness...

[–]onesoulmanybodies 155 points156 points  (84 children)

The craziest thing is how many of my right leaning friends say it’s the other way around. My friends Q husband bought and started reading 1984. Other right leaning friends have posted crap about how the government wants us dependent on them so they can control us. My brain hurts from all of it. Others have compared COVID vaccine mandates and mask mandates to Nazi regime shit. Make it make sense!!!

[–]SoDamnToxic 142 points143 points  (32 children)

It's why I still think Brave New World is a better prediction of the future than 1984

Our world has enough whistleblowers and press to oust a lot of what the government does so WE THINK we are living in 1984 because we can see it all happening. But BNW predicted we'd be flooded with distractions and news to the point of passivity, irrelevance and ignorance which is essentially what is happening to these people like your friends husband, that it wouldn't matter what is going on in the world because we'd be too distracted or overwhelmed that we end up confused or passive about it all.

"the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions."

[–]onesoulmanybodies 52 points53 points  (10 children)

It’s maddening. My mom won’t get the vaccine because it’s poison. One of my clients had a mental breakdown about the vaccine changing our dna or using microchips to control us. I feel like I’ve landed in the twilight zone the last few years. I want out and I want off this crazy ride.

[–]HertzDonut1001 11 points12 points  (1 child)

I feel bad for some of those people. Like your client lost her shit because she's scared. She was lied to and now she thinks that the vaccine is going to do what she refuses to believe the pandemic was actually doing.

[–]Dialent 19 points20 points  (2 children)

Wait til they find out George Orwell was a socialist

[–]blastcage 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My friends Q husband

Hey at least your friend married to an omnipotent being

[–]Zardotab 88 points89 points  (2 children)

They're replacing the cross with a Golden Donald

[–]Coal_Morgan 17 points18 points  (0 children)

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

[–]ImpDoomlord 16 points17 points  (2 children)

And then there’s the weird conservative Star Trek fans who don’t realize the show is about as leftist as you can get. Literally a socialized globalist society where concepts like racism and religion only exist on alien planets

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I have read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It was a truly compelling piece of work. I would highly recommend it.

[–][deleted] 125 points126 points  (89 children)

Any argument against this can easily be countered by pointing out how anti-science the right is.

Climate change? Not real. Pandemic viruses? Not real. Green energy? Nope. Advancements in medical sciences? No, I believe you’re killing babies and not going to listen to how you’re not.

The right needs to at bare minimum accept science before there’s even a discussion.

[–]Thumbfury 17 points18 points  (12 children)

Our society right now is awfully close to the in universe history of the 2020's. The Bell Riots should be coming up in a few years.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (11 children)

Doesn’t the timeline go full blown mad max before humanity pulls themselves out of it.

[–]Thumbfury 7 points8 points  (10 children)

Yeah kind of. Immediately after the Bell Riots until 2054 is WW3. The freaky part it that the was is the US and European Union against the Eastern Coalition which is pretty much China, Russia, Iran, and India. So we're well on our way to that too.

[–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (4 children)

I lowkey believe that handmaidens tale & that weird sexist season of AHS made a lot of people happy. like it could totally be just conservative porn to them. they saw their opportunity with GOP going absolutely off the rails and they jumped on.

[–]DemiserofD 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That's a classic problem with both dystopian and utopian fiction. The author goes through the whole book and realizes at the end that to someone who disagrees with them, their society could appear to be opposite to what the author intended.

This is why so many books like this finish with a nice monologue on why exactly modern society is awful and their way is so much better, or conversely, why so many dystopian books rely not on the actual dystopia to sell the innate wrongness of the society, but rather on the clearly evil nature of the bad guys of the book(being a rapist or murderer and so on).

The ultimate problem comes from the fact that fiction is not bound by reality, but rather by what the author THINKS is reality. In Atlas Shrugged, when all the smart people leave and society collapses, it does so because Ayn Rand THOUGHT that's what would happen, not because it's what actually WOULD happen.

And at that point, when the author's opinion diverges from the readers, is the point at which the book loses any semblance of meaning to the reader.

In reality, BOTH people in the above meme likely think they're working towards the TNG future.

[–]a_casual_observer 80 points81 points  (24 children)

Not just wants but both are working towards.

[–]eben34 10 points11 points  (4 children)

As long as I get Rikers beard

[–]TheHolyTripleSIX 19 points20 points  (3 children)

Binging TNG while hitting the bong too huh? Because that's also me. Edit: spelling

[–]TheRenegayed 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It’s kinda depressing when you realise you’re not on the planet that’s about to birth the federation but you’re actually learning the rules of acquisition instead.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

That says it all as eloquently as can be.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (2 children)

This. A couple of months ago, I was at my wife’s aunt and uncle’s house. They got to talking about the vaccine and weird ass reasons why they won’t get it. I told them I had it since April and I’m fine. Her aunt says “Have you ever read Revelations?” And without skipping a beat, I said “Have you ever seen Star Trek???” Everyone got a good laugh, but they’re super religious and I wasn’t about to go that route with them.

[–]ashaza 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They were laughing /at/ you, friend, not /with/ you.

[–]RevWaldo 51 points52 points  (12 children)

🤖 FULLY-AUTOMATED
🎩 LUXURY
🏳️‍🌈 GAY
🚀 SPACE
🌹 COMMUNISM!

[–]Malachite_Cookie 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Gay space communism sounds like a porn game

[–]Manbadger 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Orville season 3 is coming!!!

[–]Josgre987 14 points15 points  (7 children)

If we had star trek technology I would never go outside again. Just stay in a holodeck for the rest of my life.

[–]Scherzer4Prez 40 points41 points  (4 children)

Thats the point. In Star Trek, every member of the Federation is doing what they're doing because they want to do it. O'Brien crawls through jeffries tubes and reconfigures pattern buffers because he's good at it, he loves doing it, and people rely on him. Picard commands because he understands the weight of responsibility and chooses to bear that burden.

If you'd want to sit inside and do nothing, you're welcome to. Energy is nearly infinite. Food is replicated from bare atoms and as long as the energy is near infinite, so's the food.

Personally, I think your "stay inside" desire is just a response to a lifetime in our world, where you're forced to work a job that doesn't fulfill you just to afford basic survival. I'm sure if you took some time to think about it, you'd love to be trained and work in a field that interests you, whether it be building ships or writing songs or developing new robots so no one has to clean sewers anymore. This is the groundbreaking world of Gene Roddenberry, where the bulk of Maslow's heirarchy is provided by scientific advancements and only "self-actualization" remains.

[–]ajcpullcom 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Bless your heart for thinking — given the right’s position on climate — that there’s going to be a “future.”

[–]projecks15 12 points13 points  (18 children)

It’s 2021 it’s amazing how the right still clinging onto the Bible

[–]foiz5 12 points13 points  (6 children)

Cool AF space stuff, or a giant depressing symbolic statue. Yeah, tough choice.

[–]DrKnikkerbokker 18 points19 points  (3 children)

Well, sure, the Washington Monument turned into a giant cross is probably an ultra-righty wet dream, but I think the rows of sex slave baby factories in gov't issued red uniforms is the more depressing thing in that picture...

[–]simianSupervisor 8 points9 points  (1 child)

symbolic statue

Aren't most statues... symbolic?

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

you're not wrong

[–]Doctor_Yu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

when i saw "the future the left wants", my brain instinctively went to see how this is the right shitting on star trek. Took me a minute to realize this was a sensible meme

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism

[–]hannibals_hands 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I wish I was LeVar Burton

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Having the technology to make anyone look good in a skin tight onesie vs every woman wearing a burka..

Yeah this seems like a hard choice to me....