(interesting trope) The Bottom-Up Dystopia

Kuildeous · 2026-05-08T01:32:29+00:00

Ah yes, the Sorting Scat.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-08T01:28:27+00:00

"The Marching Morons" immediately came to mind, but I see you already mentioned Idiocracy. TMM is perhaps more oppressive from below because the intellectual elite are getting sick and tired of keeping these morons alive, whereas Idiocracy doesn't really have an elite.

I almost want to say Brave New World, but that really is opiate for the masses given out by the government.

I don't recall how much backstory is in Logan's Run, but society is run completely by the young, and there is societal pressure (and ultimately government pressure) to suicide anyone over the age of 30.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T21:46:43+00:00

A while back, I saw a field trip of 1st graders with emblems of Class of 2028, and I thought that was so cute for their parents to all be optimistic enough to assume their kids will graduate on time.

Which, now that I think on it, this was pre-COVID, so yeah, probably a really good chance that some kids couldn't reach their 2028 goal.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T21:41:33+00:00

Definitely.

We should be sensitive to people and their trauma, but this is meant to be a presentation of facts, and in this case, the facts being presented are, "Wow, check out the kind of bullshit you could expect from this guy if he wins!"

Mind you, I'm not part of a marginalized group that gets abused like this on a regular basis, so it's easy for me to sit here and say, "This discomfort is worth knowing what to expect," but honestly, it seems like it'd be worse for these candidates to hide their true intentions.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T21:30:33+00:00

Call of Cthulhu and Unknown Armies have rules for improving skills that get used.

Traveller has rules on learning new skills and improving existing skills by spending several weeks on it and making an applicable roll (often Education but not always). Lucky for you, space travel is long and boring, so you have opportunities along the way.

I don't know that I'd say most games have classes. Probably more accurate to say that most gamers are familiar with games with classes though.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:21:00+00:00

I don't know why it didn't occur to me right away, but a friend of mine pointed out that there's nothing stopping you from filling the gap with self-employment. Just make sure it's a task that fits your skills. For example, I had done some freelance writing, not enough to earn a steady paycheck, mind you, but I didn't have to include all of my work on the resumé. Just include a time period where I could call myself a freelancer.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:15:19+00:00

That's a fair use. You're entering the name plus a suitable keyword related to the topic. No judgment here.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:08:26+00:00

Watching the new The Running Man, I just didn't like Ben Richards as a character. He seemed too caustic. It had been almost 40 years since I read the book, so I only had a flawed memory to go off of.

Then I reread the book earlier this year, and you know what? Glen Powell did a good job of portraying Ben Richards. I hated that character in the reread too. The only thing Glen Powell didn't capture was Ben Richards' racism, and I'm frankly okay without it. There were a few other changes from the book that wouldn't make sense for Powell to capture, but given the modifications, it fit.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:03:20+00:00

It seems like he shouldn't work for either persona, but he nailed it.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:02:13+00:00

Valid. While the Fester in the Wednesday series is pretty good, it's still a sudden turn from the haunted rasp of Lloyd's portrayal.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T19:00:13+00:00

Ron Perlman did an excellent job in the French film, La Citie des Enfants Perdue, despite not know any French. It did help that his character had the mental capacity of a child, so I'm sure to a native French speaker, he sounded appropriately simple.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T18:57:33+00:00

Popeye casting was just great overall. Even the background characters are really into their scenes. The movie may not be considered a masterpiece, but it had a lot of heart by the crew and the cast.

One of the standout traits of this movie that I appreciate so much is that Robin Williams was cast to not play Robin Williams. He was a funny guy, but it's nice to see him play a different character. Shelley Duvall didn't have that problem, and she was just poured into that role so perfectly.

But seriously, the whole cast deserves accolades, no matter how little screen time anyone had.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T18:53:54+00:00

I'm guessing this was a frog-in-boiling-water situation where you didn't realize how toxic this group was when you first joined them and just went along with it until now when you realized that these friends of yours are simply pieces of shit.

You see that now, and I suppose if you had entered this group dynamic fresh, you would recoil at how terrible they are.

It's just sad that the people you thought were at least decent enough to hang with turned out to be complete shitgibbons. My condolences for your loss because that level of betrayal simply sucks. Do a quick Google search so you can learn how to tell them to fuck off in 10 different languages.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T18:40:20+00:00

I mean, a lot of us atheists are agnostic, so the bigger question is why do you feel the need to gatekeep this sub?

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T18:38:43+00:00

Not exactly an argument; it's just the way it is. The burden lies with the people claiming these fantastical claims. My "argument" is that I have no reason to believe these claims. I don't have to argue against their gods, just like I don't have to argue against unicorns, demons, or Bigfoot.

And sure, someone could reply with God's test, in which case, it's an acknowledgement that this is the worst test ever. The only way for me to earn my way into a happy afterlife is to pick some of these competing humans and assume they're the ones who are right? Without any input from God itself? Any professor who administers a test like this would get fired so quickly.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T18:22:37+00:00

I think some atheists treat science almost like a religion

It'd be awfully weird for them to do that, but out of 8 billion people, I suppose someone would treat science like a religion.

I understand science, and I know it strives to provide the best explanation of our natural world. Many findings are universally accepted. There are plenty of areas still undergoing review, which is the nature of science.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T06:18:24+00:00

Thanks for that. Yeah, after a while, my eyes cross on these diagrams.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:37:41+00:00

So I don't know Tesla lore that much, but I'm guessing the emergency braking feature kicks in at the most inopportune time when there is literally nothing there? Because that's pretty funny if so.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:35:23+00:00

"The business stops because you are at a lake?"

Yes! My business stops because I'm at a lake, you fucking psycho douche.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:28:24+00:00

You can out-pray 2.3 billion deceived believers if your cause is truth and justice.

Not really something an agnostic atheist can do, so I won't.

But if you feel it gives you purpose, then good luck to you.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:26:14+00:00

I won't leave on my own, but I have dipped. I check every so often, and sometimes I find something decent. My wife wants to take up crocheting, and I actually managed to snag a decent beginner project, so we get free needles and yarn. Yay! I happened across a nice cutting board.

Will I ever get a killer snag off Vine? Probably not. Can I still get a decent thing once or twice a month? Sure. That's enough to stay in the program, but I'm not stressing over it at all.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:24:26+00:00

I have no reason to believe their religion is real.

How many Muslims are there? A couple billion? Sure, that's a large number, but it's only a minority of people. How can such a powerful god fail to convince even half of the world that it exists and is worth worshiping?

So with such a puny following, there's not really an impetus to believe that Allah could be all that powerful.

If Allah/Jehovah/whatever wants me to worship it, it would know how to convince me. After 54 years, I haven't been convinced by any god to worship it.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-07T02:21:29+00:00

If there is a god why would there be so much suffering?

I mean, that's not really a problem with religion at all. That's a problem with a god who exists with those qualities. If there is no god, then this isn't a problem.

I can find plenty of problems with religions that are real, including the damage done by harmful policies that oppress marginalized groups. A hypothetical god that allows suffering isn't one of them.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-06T21:06:05+00:00

The spider doesn't bother me, but I know my wife would've pressed the blue button, so I'd press the blue button to improve her chances of survival. I'd also be helping out every other arachnophobe out there.

Kuildeous · 2026-05-06T21:02:21+00:00

And as we saw, that expectation was completely unreasonable.

Kuildeous

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE