this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I mean, you could replace Russian assets with Japanese elves and that's basically Shadowrun. Ignore the fact there are also literal dragons and ancient gods as part of the conspiracy ring; that's just an aesthetic and has no bearing on how they are basically just regular billionaires.

[–] GraniteM 3 points 4 hours ago

There was a Tom Clancy novel, either Sum of All Fears or Red Storm Rising, where the president and cabinet were a bunch of stupid fuckups that kept on making bad decisions taking us closer to World War 3.

[–] psycho_driver 3 points 4 hours ago

And the president elect checks every one of those boxes.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 hours ago

The techbrocalypse is a woefully underexplored dystopian future setting

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 hours ago

Handmaidens tale comes close tho

[–] hperrin 8 points 7 hours ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

That government had the intelligence to see they needed to listen to someone smarter than them and gave Not Sure the freedom to do it how ever needed, even if it was something as ridiculous as water from the toilet. Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

[–] psycho_driver 4 points 4 hours ago

Nah a lot worse. President Camacho was a good dude who had his peoples best interests at heart.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 hours ago

Not even!!!!! Nobody ever imagined such a horrible scenario

[–] Cornelius_Wangenheim 7 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

The last, uhh, 24 years keep reminding me of this line by Yeats:

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

Are full of passionate intensity."

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

[–] falidorn 3 points 5 hours ago

This movie is eerily accurate despite being scathing satire. There’s more than a hint of truth in it. More like a mountain.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

Gotta protect those bodily fluids boiz!

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan 7 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (3 children)

Transmetropolitan nails this.

Unfortunately for us as a civilization, the series has aged quite well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

Oh man Transmetropolitan, Judge Dredd, and some other deeply satirical stories like Harrison Bergeron have ended up being closer to reality than even the best attempts at dystopia: Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 (though its critique of what is essentially social media is on point), Minority Report (let's see how AI in law enforcement goes...), Handmaid's Tale...

I save a special spot for 1984 because our technology is spying on us, our governments and billionaires are using the media to manufacture consent, and the lies and danger around us make us not trust each other. 1984 did get pretty close, but 1984 was made with the assumption that our elites are competent and willing to work together and that does not seem to be the case actually. That's our one saving grace and we need to act on it as soon as possible.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago

My God, how I miss Warren Ellis.

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[–] chaitae3 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I'm throwing Starship Troopers in the ring

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Book or movie? Because if you mean the book we're going to have words.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)
[–] whotookkarl 70 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Alt: duck soup movie poster, in which a grifter con man fails upward to leading a country, makes a mockery of justice, appoints idiots spying for a foreign government, and ends up in a losing war and destruction.

[–] _stranger_ 38 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

And it came out in 1933.

Something about history rhyming and all that.

[–] whotookkarl 16 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

And some song lyrics from the first music number:

The last man nearly ruined this place,

He didn’t know what to do with it

If you think this country’s bad enough now,

Just wait till I get through with it. /

The country’s taxes must be fixed,

And I know what to do with it.

If you think you’re paying too much now,

Just wait till I get through with it. /

I will not stand for anything

That’s crooked or unfair.

I’m strictly on the up and up,

So everyone beware. /

If anyone’s caught taking graft

And I don’t get my share,

We stand ‘em up against the wall…

And pop goes the weasel!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I have to watch it again, along with some of the others like coconauts and day at the races

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

Morons from Outer Space is a classic you should include

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

So we're a decade early. WWIII 2029?

[–] [email protected] 104 points 13 hours ago (8 children)

So many villains in fiction are depicted as intelligent, phew, did we ever get that one wrong

[–] ChicoSuave 17 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

It may seem like a meme, but Idiocracy did actually nail it. Dumb and aggressive with no attention span.

[–] tibi 4 points 5 hours ago

No they didn't. The president recognized a smart person and put them in charge to fix their problems. Do you see the Trump administration doing that?

[–] samus12345 11 points 8 hours ago

Idiocracy was less mean-spirited than reality, though. Sure, people were assholes, but they weren't trying to eradicate trans people or immigrants.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago

Go away, baitin

[–] [email protected] 38 points 13 hours ago

If they were intelligent, we wouldn't even figure out they're villains

[–] [email protected] 21 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

Honestly, its always been anti-intellectualism. Sure not all smart people are good people, but in general empathy is a sign of intelligence, while malice and stupidity go hand in hand.

Edit: There's also the fact that the smart tropey villains also often happen to be wealthy, and as we all know being wealthy means someone is smart/s

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

i can think of a few stories...

[–] Vinny_93 71 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

V for Vendetta seems close though

[–] Donkter 43 points 13 hours ago (4 children)

I kind of thought this was the joke. Many many dystopian plots are about governments ran by corporations and filled with foreign spies.

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[–] Sam_Bass 6 points 8 hours ago

Tom Clancy may yet surprise you

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 hours ago

I feel like altered carbon might be on the right path, possibly blade runner as well.

[–] RememberTheApollo_ 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, some did. But in those novels the same individuals were actually pretty smart.

That’s the difference.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

The amount of sexual predators Epstein's closest friend have nominated to position of power is incredible,

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Season 4 of Lexx had all that and aliens.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 12 hours ago (9 children)

kak·i·sto·cra·cy

noun

Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.

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