First, it's not new. Brave New World was written in 1931 and Nineteen Eighty-Four was written in 1949. Second, we enjoy it because it's thought-provoking. If w

First, it's not new. Brave New World was written in 1931 and Nineteen Eighty-Four was written in 1949. Second, we enjoy it because it's thought-provoking. If we're talking about dystopia in general, that's quite old. In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, it's the part set in hell that's been most memorable. The appeal of zombie fiction in the U.S. is a result of deindustrialization, which began in the 1980s. So, I don't think that, on the grand scale, this is something brand new. For as long as people have been able to think of the future, there've been some willing to entertain the idea that everything might go to hell. It we're talking about technological dystopia (e.g. Black Mirror) then that's because there's a strong (and correct) sense that while technology is an inexorable force, the current leadership (i.e. Silicon Valley) can't be trusted. Is that troubling? Yes. Should we take it as a warning regarding our socio-technological climate? Yes. Does it foretell catastrophe? I don't think so.