4 ms·

Idiocracy

87 points by zeristor 1y ago

killerstorm 1y ago
Turns out the most fantastic assumption was that it would take 500 years for a society to degrade to that level. Culture can decay much faster than genes.
- atmavatar 1y ago
  Another one is that the larger-than-life, bloviating leader presiding over everything actually had the foresight to find the smartest person on the planet and put them to work fixing things. President Camacho would be an improvement over what the US has now.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- bitmasher9 1y ago
  Culture can also be recovered way faster. If a gene goes extinct then we’re waiting for random mutation in an advantageous environment for it to reappear.
slimebot80 1y ago
No idea why this is trending? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- s_Hogg 1y ago
  Or why Hacker News comments on this one are quiet as the graveyard...
  - dleeftink 1y ago
    Beyond us! Said the forum that quitely helped shape the technocracy
  - NoOn3 1y ago
    Sometimes the title says it all. :)
  - rjtavares 1y ago
    Or why it was flagged...
    - EasyMark 1y ago
      more people need to know about https://news.ycombinator.com/active https://news.ycombinator.com/active
- n1b0m 1y ago
  I guess you haven’t seen the news lately. I envy you :)
- ishopatbakers 1y ago
  This is the perfect example of HN becoming Front-Page of Reddit with just a different color of paint. Self aggrandizing posts and comments.
comrade1234 1y ago
> Idiocracy was released as scheduled but only in seven cities (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Mike Judge's hometown, Austin, Texas), When they say “Los Angeles” I think they mean some random theater in the middle of nowhere north of the Los grapevine canyon. I lived in Ventura when idiocracy came out and a friend happened to be driving San francisco to San Diego that weekend so we met and saw the movie in that theater. There were only a couple of other people there - but it was a mid-afternoon showing. It really felt isolated. Maybe on the edge of Santa Clarita.
mckirk 1y ago
My favorite piece of Idiocracy trivia: When the costume designer was thinking about the kinds of shoes the people in this 'idiotic' future would be wearing, she found a small startup that made some pretty ridiculously looking and cheap shoes that she was sure were safe to use for the movie because they were definitely not going to catch on. Those shoes were Crocs.
- leereeves 1y ago
  That's a great anecdote. I wonder if the publicity helped Crocs catch on. If so, I'd like to thank her, because Crocs are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. Also, they are only "pretty ridiculously looking" because they're shaped properly, not like the majority of misshapen shoes that crush your toes. (Unfortunately, Crocs now makes a normal looking sneaker that crushes my toes. Such a waste.)
  - johnea 1y ago
    > Unfortunately, Crocs now makes a normal looking sneaker that crushes my toes. More proof that we've already reached idiocracy...
snowram 1y ago
Idiocracy, just like 1984, is the catchall exemple someone will use when having no idea on how to articulate their feelings about a society they don't like.
rediguanayum 1y ago
Lol. However our current situation is more akin to "Egocracy".
- p3rls 1y ago
  Horrible-- maybe leave the neologisms to the people who can tell latin and greek apart
downboots 1y ago
The film was absurdist. Here's another realistic take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqs8D3xfxsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqs8D3xfxsc (despite the clickbait title sounding like anti-intellectualism)
- EasyMark 1y ago
  We thought it was abusurdist, turns out it's a ballparkish estimate of where we're headed in 20 years if the current trends and leadership keep it up. - declaring vaccines as bad science - attacking academia as "elites" to be despised - attacking all higher education - highlighting the 50s —a period of terrible racial, gender,etc equality— as the height of US civilization - putting a health conspiracy nut like RFK in charge of our health. Surprised food babe wasn't his selection since she's much more attractive. - equating tariffs as the same thing as a trade deficit
mre 1y ago
Recently watched Mickey 17 and it reminded me a bit of Idiocracy. Maybe someone is looking for related movies.
nunez 1y ago
We're still on track towards converging with a President Mountain Dew Camacho timeline. Proof: our Dept of Ed security is literally a founder of WWE.
sixtyj 1y ago
Sometimes I feel that Idiocracy is a documentary :)
twobitshifter 1y ago
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kid-Rock-Trump-Main-2025.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03... https://wips.plug.it/cips/notizie.virgilio.it/cms/2024/07/hulk-hogan-donald-trump.jpg https://wips.plug.it/cips/notizie.virgilio.it/cms/2024/07/hu... https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-08/t928vnkg_-tesla-cybertruck_625x300_06_August_24.jpeg https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-08/t928vnkg_-tesla-cybertruck_625...
Dreadmire 1y ago
Man, I already lived through Covidiocracy — people double-masking alone in their cars, wiping down cereal boxes like they were radioactive, treating Fauci like a high priest of Science™, snitching on neighbors for having dinner guests, and lining up for rushed experimental shots like it was Black Friday at CVS. Ask a question and suddenly you’re a grandma-murdering science denier. It was full-blown clown world — mass hysteria in a lab coat, where obedience meant virtue and thinking got you flagged.

87 points by zeristor 1y ago

Turns out the most fantastic assumption was that it would take 500 years for a society to degrade to that level. Culture can decay much faster than genes.

atmavatar 1y ago
Another one is that the larger-than-life, bloviating leader presiding over everything actually had the foresight to find the smartest person on the planet and put them to work fixing things. President Camacho would be an improvement over what the US has now.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
bitmasher9 1y ago
Culture can also be recovered way faster. If a gene goes extinct then we’re waiting for random mutation in an advantageous environment for it to reappear.

slimebot80 1y ago

No idea why this is trending? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

s_Hogg 1y ago
Or why Hacker News comments on this one are quiet as the graveyard...
- dleeftink 1y ago
  Beyond us! Said the forum that quitely helped shape the technocracy
- NoOn3 1y ago
  Sometimes the title says it all. :)
- rjtavares 1y ago
  Or why it was flagged...
  - EasyMark 1y ago
    more people need to know about https://news.ycombinator.com/active https://news.ycombinator.com/active
n1b0m 1y ago
I guess you haven’t seen the news lately. I envy you :)
ishopatbakers 1y ago
This is the perfect example of HN becoming Front-Page of Reddit with just a different color of paint. Self aggrandizing posts and comments.

comrade1234 1y ago

> Idiocracy was released as scheduled but only in seven cities (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Mike Judge's hometown, Austin, Texas), When they say “Los Angeles” I think they mean some random theater in the middle of nowhere north of the Los grapevine canyon. I lived in Ventura when idiocracy came out and a friend happened to be driving San francisco to San Diego that weekend so we met and saw the movie in that theater. There were only a couple of other people there - but it was a mid-afternoon showing. It really felt isolated. Maybe on the edge of Santa Clarita.

mckirk 1y ago

My favorite piece of Idiocracy trivia: When the costume designer was thinking about the kinds of shoes the people in this 'idiotic' future would be wearing, she found a small startup that made some pretty ridiculously looking and cheap shoes that she was sure were safe to use for the movie because they were definitely not going to catch on. Those shoes were Crocs.

leereeves 1y ago
That's a great anecdote. I wonder if the publicity helped Crocs catch on. If so, I'd like to thank her, because Crocs are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. Also, they are only "pretty ridiculously looking" because they're shaped properly, not like the majority of misshapen shoes that crush your toes. (Unfortunately, Crocs now makes a normal looking sneaker that crushes my toes. Such a waste.)
- johnea 1y ago
  > Unfortunately, Crocs now makes a normal looking sneaker that crushes my toes. More proof that we've already reached idiocracy...

snowram 1y ago

Idiocracy, just like 1984, is the catchall exemple someone will use when having no idea on how to articulate their feelings about a society they don't like.

rediguanayum 1y ago

Lol. However our current situation is more akin to "Egocracy".

p3rls 1y ago
Horrible-- maybe leave the neologisms to the people who can tell latin and greek apart

downboots 1y ago

The film was absurdist. Here's another realistic take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqs8D3xfxsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqs8D3xfxsc (despite the clickbait title sounding like anti-intellectualism)

EasyMark 1y ago
We thought it was abusurdist, turns out it's a ballparkish estimate of where we're headed in 20 years if the current trends and leadership keep it up. - declaring vaccines as bad science - attacking academia as "elites" to be despised - attacking all higher education - highlighting the 50s —a period of terrible racial, gender,etc equality— as the height of US civilization - putting a health conspiracy nut like RFK in charge of our health. Surprised food babe wasn't his selection since she's much more attractive. - equating tariffs as the same thing as a trade deficit

mre 1y ago

Recently watched Mickey 17 and it reminded me a bit of Idiocracy. Maybe someone is looking for related movies.

nunez 1y ago

We're still on track towards converging with a President Mountain Dew Camacho timeline. Proof: our Dept of Ed security is literally a founder of WWE.

sixtyj 1y ago

Sometimes I feel that Idiocracy is a documentary :)

twobitshifter 1y ago

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kid-Rock-Trump-Main-2025.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03... https://wips.plug.it/cips/notizie.virgilio.it/cms/2024/07/hulk-hogan-donald-trump.jpg https://wips.plug.it/cips/notizie.virgilio.it/cms/2024/07/hu... https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-08/t928vnkg_-tesla-cybertruck_625x300_06_August_24.jpeg https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-08/t928vnkg_-tesla-cybertruck_625...

Dreadmire 1y ago

Man, I already lived through Covidiocracy — people double-masking alone in their cars, wiping down cereal boxes like they were radioactive, treating Fauci like a high priest of Science™, snitching on neighbors for having dinner guests, and lining up for rushed experimental shots like it was Black Friday at CVS. Ask a question and suddenly you’re a grandma-murdering science denier. It was full-blown clown world — mass hysteria in a lab coat, where obedience meant virtue and thinking got you flagged.