Axiom 1: We are living in the future.

[oddhack@mstdn.social]

@hakona @cstross Also remembering that plutocrat who built a hideout bunker in New Zealand. He fled there at the start of COVID and... found he could not get inside his bunker. Hoping he was pecked to death by keas, or something suitably unpleasant (being NZ rather than Australia, earthquakes or volcanoes are much more plausible forms of death than wildlife).

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@Pionir The maddening thing is that so much of this makes sense. 15-minute city, renewables acceleration, holding people to account, all seems logical, realistic, sensible, *rewarding* both short-term and long term. @cstross

[pionir@masto.bike]

@hakona @cstross

I think one key difference between now and the 70s (which was also arguably a tipping point and resulted in some change) is that the technologies we need readily exist now and just need scaling up.

I have to believe we'll get there, just to keep sane in the face of madness.

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@keithzg Yes! a self-sustaining island-state of in-bred nepo-babies. Kicks off with the smart-mansions malfunctioning so they have to venture on to the mainland, or maybe some random fisherman finds them. @cstross

[johnb@sfba.social]

@mattly @joshsusser Prime video has it as Nine Queens

[arrens@mastodon.social]

@cstross Dick Tracey villains seems the obvious answer.

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@keithzg That could be the Elijah Baley books when I think about it. Our future has all this wilful stupidity that Isaac Asimov never could have imagined. Even the inhabitants of Solaria don't capture the current state of affairs when it comes to intellectual honesty and lack of curiosity. @cstross

[blausand@chaos.social]

@driusan @cstross You know what the universe teaches ME to be way too low since way longer than 6yrs? My imagination of how utterly stupid, selfish and reckless mankind really is.

[graydon@canada.masto.host]

@HighlandLawyer @cstross Far too much long term planning. Oligarchies are unspeakably terrible at planning, never mind long term logistical planning.

They do fashion; they do greed. They do power and control.

And public health is dead.

In the bleak even more capitalist future, there will be innumerable competing prettiness viruses seeking to improve you.

After a few cycles of infection, all the oligarchs are so very happy because no one ever complains.

[megatronicthronbanks@mastodon.social]

@cstross (Spits coffee)BOND VILLAINS?? These people are the village idiots on drugs!!