man, i'm actually a huge fan of barbara ehrenreich (especially nickel-and-dimed), but i feel like i could write an article like this about any subject. for inst

man, i'm actually a huge fan of barbara ehrenreich (especially nickel-and-dimed), but i feel like i could write an article like this about any subject. for instance, here the subject is some people who are trying to be more healthy and take care of themselves. but it's made sinister through some sprinkling of conventional villains (humorless gym owners, corporations with fitness programs), a caricature (people tracking their workouts on clipboards) and some topical/social-justice tie-in (people who cannot afford gyms, headphones that remove you from normal interaction). i can do this as easily for, say, education. you thought it was about people trying to learn stuff, but it's actually about drones doing rote memorization in ivory towers (which the urban poor can ill-afford), all for the benefit of soul-sucking corporations which will use that knowledge to destroy the world, even while the system oppresses those same students through massive loan debt. or, how about programming? you thought it was about having fun creating stuff that people find useful, but it's actually about pencil-necked dweebs who got abused in high school and are now taking their revenge on the world through will-sapping social networks, even while the government lets them steal your private data consequence-free and lets them get so rich they all buy teslas (which the urban poor can ill-afford) someone give me a topic, any topic! i can make it so sinister and hateful you'll soon be too afraid/cynical to do anything more than cower in your basement -- which, you thought it was just cowering in your basement, but it's actually about sociopathic loners hiding from the world, probably polishing assault weapons and stockpiling canned goods (which the urban poor can ill-afford) while forgoing their sacred duty to vote, thus allowing republicans and corporations to pillage the world this really brings home for me why kim stanley robinson avoids writing dystopias.