4 ms·

Dystopia has a specific meaning- failed states and dictatorships are not necessarily dystopias.

• eli_gottlieb 11y ago
  Yes, and by no means is present-day California (or even Reagan-day California, which I'd probably hate more myself) a state carefully optimized to inflict maximal misery on its inhabitants. It doesn't help that I live in Boston, which is also not a regime carefully working-out how to maximize the misery of the inhabitants.
  • Camillo 11y ago
    That is not even the definition of dystopia.
    • eli_gottlieb 11y ago
      From wikipedia: >A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,[1] kakotopia, or simply anti-utopia) is a community or society that is undesirable or frightening. >Dystopias are often characterized by dehumanization,[2] totalitarian governments, environmental disaster,[3] or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society. I'm really wondering what definition you're working from.
      • Camillo 11y ago
        Why do you do this? The key part of your previous comment, the one you yourself put in italics, was "carefully optimized to inflict maximal misery". The definition that you are quoting now says absolutely nothing about that. It is clear to everyone that your second post does not support your first in any way. There is absolutely no requirement that the negative aspects of a dystopia be "carefully optimized" for misery, or even that they be deliberate at all. They can just as easily arise from misguided goals, or even from completely undirected phenomena (the tragedy of the commons, for instance).