Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Imagining the Future

Compare and contrast Tomorrowland and Mad Max: Fury Road.  Tomorrowland actually gives us a rare glimpse of the WHOLE spectrum: utopia (too good to be true: the commercial), eutopia (not perfect but still awesome: what they're trying to create), pseudotopia (purporting to be a good place while actually sucking: Governor Nix's society), and dystopia (awful: the end of the world).  Fury Road is, of course, postapocalyptic dystopia.

At this stage, I'd classify America as a pseudotopia, falsely claiming to be #1 while in fact it's only #1 in prison population and quite far down the list for things like maternal health, vacation time, food security, academic achievment, etc.

I work toward a positive future.  However, I am aware that the people with most influence do not share my concerns or desires.  They are driving the world in destructive directions.  Even if we were to stop all that right  now, the damage already done will continue to cause problems for many years into the future.  The chance of people making those changes is very small.  Without that commitment, things will get a LOT worse.  

We are already seeing increased trends in many areas such as biosphere damage and climate change.  Here's a chart of boundaries of survival, which I frankly think is over-optimistic given that even the green zones are already showing measurable symptoms of distress such as the fact that California's snowcap just hit 0% which I think is a flaming red flag that they are living beyond their water budget.

So I concentrate on three things now: 1) Trying to make my little corner of the world a nicer place.  2) Preparing for disaster.  3) Establishing my right to stand in the foyer-ever-after and say, "I fucking TOLD YOU SO."



Believe that all things are possible.  Understand that some are more likely than others.  Trust that you can learn to tell the difference.
Tags: activism, entertainment, networking, reading, science fiction
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  • 4 comments
fayanora

fayanora

June 2 2015, 04:22:21 UTC 6 years ago

Pseudotopia. I like that term.
thnidu

thnidu

June 2 2015, 05:00:36 UTC 6 years ago

Ye-es... except it doesn't "mean" what it's supposed to mean, namely, "pseudo-utopia" or "pseudo-eutopia".

"Utopia" was Sir Thomas More's invented name for his imaginary land, meaning literally 'no place land',° οὐ-τοπία; in English, it sounds identical to εὐτοπία eutopia 'good place land'.* "Pseudotopia" ψευδο-τοπία analyzes out to 'false place land', not 'false good place land' or even 'false no place land'.

Not that that need be a real consideration

° "He's a real Nowhere Man, Sitting in his nowhere land, Making all his nowhere plans for nobody." But I don't think John and Paul were thinking of anything More than their song.

* Which, mine hostess, creates a problem for using those two words with different meanings.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

June 2 2015, 05:05:58 UTC 6 years ago

>> "Utopia" was Sir Thomas More's invented name for his imaginary land, meaning literally 'no place land',° οὐ-τοπία; in English, it sounds identical to εὐτοπία eutopia 'good place land'. <<

I pronounce them u-TOP-i-a and EU-top-i-a to distinguish them, like PRE-sent and pre-SENT.

>> "Pseudotopia" ψευδο-τοπία analyzes out to 'false place land', not 'false good place land' or even 'false no place land'. <<

It's intended to say "false place (land)" which is to say, it is something other than what it purports to be.
thnidu

Re: Well...

thnidu

June 2 2015, 05:40:35 UTC 6 years ago

«It's intended to say "false place (land)" which is to say, it is something other than what it purports to be.»
Fairy Nuff. (Or something like that.)

«I pronounce them u-TOP-i-a and EU-top-i-a to distinguish them, like PRE-sent and pre-SENT.»
Distinct but arbitrary.