Based on our viewing the future looks horrible.

 

Based on our viewing the future doesn’t looks horrible.

Cynical Perspectives:

If you haven’t noticed apocalyptic futures seem to be in right now, walking dead, A Nation, etc. If you judge by our watching style we don’t have a whole lot of belief in ourselves or the world these days. I remember as a kid watching Independence Day, where the whole world gathered united out the United States to fight off an alien invasion. Remember star trek again a bright future where mankind unites. As time progresses we get darker and darker pictures. First it mankind unites to make the world better, then mankind unites to fight off a greater threat, then it turns into mankind devolves into a backward primitive state full of ruthless amoral survivors that only care about surviving another day. Mankind survives.

Into the Badlands:

Let’s look at Into the Badlands. A new hit show with a somewhat negative take on the future. It strikes a good balance making society that is too much like ours and one that is so different that we can’t connect to it and draw no connection. Into The Badland is like your life, just immeasurably worse. Just like today there is a cast system, only so much worse:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/162903711499609909/

As shown on the AMC Badlands site I couldn’t copy it so I got it from Pininterest.  http://www.amc.com/shows/into-the-badlands/exclusives/the-world#killing-anchor

Today’s World Only Worse: in the future your life is valued on your ability to farm opium or force others to farm opium for this slave owning/murdering/drug dealing/polygamist/ect/piece of shit.

               Instead of 1% CEOS you have Barons who literally own everything, and everyone. Instead of cops who get away with somewhat questionable shootings you have bands “Clippers” who are basically assassins who kill anyone the Baron doesn’t like, hope you don’t think working in a cubicle or making fries is bad, it should give you an idea of what life is life for most people when commoners are referred to as Cogs (seriously that is there name and what role most of us would be in, gives you an idea of what life is like for ordinary people). Then you have the Dolls, mainly women who were abducted by human traffickers, except in their society the traffickers are the government. Again you think women’s rights are bad today, you have a society where the status of women in the Badlands isn’t that much different than in Saudi Arabia when the subject of polygamy was introduced I couldn’t help but think it was a reference to modern day Saudi Arabia. The only people who seem outside the system are bandits and scientist. This is also much like today. In a weird way if you’re a criminal you have certain amount of freedom that others do not (even though in the process you risk losing all freedom).

Only thing that stands out as totally different from the modern world as opposed to just being the exaggeration of the modern world is the government having no interest in technology. I can’t think of a government no matter how oppressive that doesn’t take an interest in citizens who display talent in important technology. You can bet that North Koreas scientist live VERY good lives in comparison to most of their countrymen and probably even in comparison to most Americans. But this is not the case in the Badlands. Science with the exception of automobiles is actively stifled and guns have been abolished. This makes sense considering when you realize that the Barons main threat isn’t others Barons but their own people. Their Clipper have to train at a young age at sword fighting and martial arts. But anyone can learn to use to a gun effectively with little training. This could be seen as a very nuanced view on gun rights. There are many ways to make weapons, to use edged blades very effectively, to print out paper guns (yes they exist) but these are out of the league of most American citizens.

There is a representative of modern values in the Badland that comes in the form of the “Widow”. But as with the other qualities of the Badlands it comes somewhat sinister form. A woman that killed her Baron husband and is trying to achieve gender and class equality for the badlands. Again they take modern, and they twist it. Yes there is a representative for the values we grew up with, but it comes in the form of an individual who by modern standards can only be described as a murderer, terrorist and would be dictator who uses a cabal of informants and assassins who foment a war in which she’ll take power regardless of the death toll inflicted.

The Best Opinion poll I’ve ever seen:

Now to get back to what I was talking about before it shows that we don’t believe our society will work. We don’t. We watch these shows to help us get use to a world where everything we know goes to hell. It’s the most honest opinion poll we you can find. Just look at what kind of societies people see evolving in the future. It doesn’t look good.