Discussion Could this be the future?

[tercermundista]

I'm watching Alien Earth, and in that sci-fi future, there are no politicians, no voting, no democracy because the system failed... Basically, planet Earth is divided between five large corporations that control absolutely everything.

Do you think this could be the future?

 

[DarkRange55]

I posted a thread a while ago asking a similar question.

 

[tercermundista]

I posted a thread a while ago asking a similar question.

And what do you think?

 

[DarkRange55]

And what do you think?

I would like to hear from @noname223 & @Blurry_Buildings first



Read: the 1986 anthology July 20, 2019: Life in the 21st Century, by Arthur C. Clarke.

Snippet from book: "Married white female, 40, seeks well-endowed SWM, 18-28, for 3-month intimate companionship. My husband's hormone treatments (he's 6 months pregnant) have put him out of commission temporarily. You take care of me; I'll take care of you. Electrostimulation okay; as is drug-enhanced orgasm, but prefer partner with original equipment rather than implant. Send photo and vaccination certification to Box 2238."

 

[noname223]

I'm watching Alien Earth, and in that sci-fi future, there are no politicians, no voting, no democracy because the system failed... Basically, planet Earth is divided between five large corporations that control absolutely everything.

Do you think this could be the future?

Sounds like Curtis Yarvin's wet dream. Sci-fi authors are used by futurologist to create scenarios about the future. It sounds like a dystopia and there are indicators we are heading into a dystopia. I am not sure how stable such a system would be. I don't know whether that would be the actual end of history. I could imagine that AI or AGI had the potential to replace politicians if it became supereffective. It can help to envision such scenarios in order for trying to prevent them. I would not rule it out but wouldn't there be riots if like everything Was privatized. I know consumers are easily distracted and gaslit. But we in Germany hate and envy the rich. And isn't history rather developing dialectical?

 

[Blurry_Buildings]

Its hard for me to imagine people ever wanting a corporation to openly replace the government, and I can't see why a corporation would want to do it when in most places today they can already achieve the same results through bribery, government contracts, and control over regulations. Although, I like that corporation states serve as a metaphor for our relationship to modern day global corporations. They look and act different, but the effects seem similar.

It felt like a complete corporate state sounded similar to authoritarian non-democratic socialism, where the state centrally owns all corporations below it and a very small elite profit off of an abused working class, as in North Korea, or maybe a fascist dictatorship where lower classes of workers are abused by state corporations to enrich both the elites and an innately priviliged group of society.

The same things seem to happen in different ways in the USA, even though it is not authoritarian socialist or fascist, and not a corporate state. The elite are still whoever owns and controls the conglomerates, but instead of the elite controling the government directly, they control through bribery, extortion, and proxy "non-profit" organizations. Three corporations which both hold influence over the government and are heavily influenced by the government control the majority of the news we see, corporations routinely block welfare or public infrastructure while negotiating generous taxpayer subsidies, and race based segregation and discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ people is common.

 

[not-2-b-the-answer]

I'm watching Alien Earth, and in that sci-fi future, there are no politicians, no voting, no democracy because the system failed... Basically, planet Earth is divided between five large corporations that control absolutely everything.

Do you think this could be the future?

The world is already controlled by corporations.... It just hasn't consolidated into 5 yet.

BTW.... Alien Earth is awesome

 

[Forever Sleep]

The world is already controlled by corporations.... It just hasn't consolidated into 5 yet.

BTW.... Alien Earth is awesome

I was going to post this too- that to some extent, it's already happening. Corporations likely 'buy' some of our politicians/ donate generously to their parties and get to assert their influence.

I once watched a documentary about sugar. That they began realising early on how dangerous it could potentially be to health. Yet, seeing as these companies give our governments shit loads of money, they've allowed them to sneak it into most of our food.

It's maybe more insiduous than obviously ruling the world but- it's already here. Both Dupont and Boeing were so trusted by the agencies that were supposed to be maintaining the safety of their products that they both released products that killed. Thanks to companies like Dupont, C8 is said to be found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. How could that even happen unless these companies had so much power and influence? We've effectively allowed them to poison us.

Our tutor once interestingly posted out that sci fi commonly isn't about the future. It's often in fact a critical, cynical comment on the present. Or at least, the likely direction the present is leading us.

 

[DarkRange55]

Thats not the present?

I mean, some of the news stories…

Idk I mean look at Halliburton with Cheney for example. Or in Chaebŏl in different parts of Asia, not just Korea but Taiwan, etc.
The corporations already run or at least strongly influence a lot of things. Idk if it's Gilded Age levels again, yet.
But I imagine you mean some Blade Runner megacoperation type dystopia.

U.S. Government Finalizes Deal For 10% Equity Stake In Intel, Will Release $8.87 Billion In Funding | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Rare Earth Producer MP Materials Soars 50% After US Government Becomes Largest Shareholder | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

US to Have ‘Golden Share’ in Nippon Steel Partnership With US Steel: Sen. McCormick

‘In the case of Pennsylvania, this saves about 10,000 jobs,’ the Pennsylvania lawmaker said.

www.theepochtimes.com

…I think about the ghost towns I've visited, like Lester, WA, some were even "company towns." Look into scrip if you are you aren't familiar with the concept.

Company scrip - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Company town - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Summerlin, Nevada - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Summerlin, Nevada is a massive master-planned community on the west side of Las Vegas that began with land quietly bought by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes; after his death, his estate developed it into one of the largest company-built communities in the U.S., effectively a city created by corporate planning.



Some HQ's of global companies are the size of towns with tens of thousands of employees, look at Samsung.
Idk the way things are going in some countries almost seems like the opposite.

Historically, some of these corporations such as the Dutch East India company and the British east India trading company had their own navy and army to control access to the nations overseas wealth.















In the US, a lot of prisons are private. Healthcare is largely private. A lot of the top American schools are private. Toll roads, airports, and utilities are often run by private companies or public–private partnerships. The US has contracts with SpaceX for big things. The US also has SOE's. Surprisingly the Post Office hasn't been privatized yet.

Tennessee Valley Authority - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

State-owned enterprises of the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is a possible future, either through sheer economic might or through controlling the main AIs.
But even companies have internal politics and shareholder voting, and it is far from the only possible future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy

Italian fascism - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Maybe these economics are a little related just a real world parallel

Idk Russia to me a kleptocracy but look at its oligarchs

 

[DarkRange55]

I can't believe I forgot the United Fruit Company!!

Good book:

@noname223 check that out if you haven't

https://a.co/d/gIktVYX

 

[DarkRange55]