Guess who's Amazon's #1 Best Seller?

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 2:16pm

A popular acronym in IT support is RTFM (Read The F*cking Manual).
So a few days after President Trump's special adviser Kellyanne Conway used the term "alternative facts" and one month after Obama created a Ministry of Truth, people have decided to RTFM.

Yes, George Orwell's dystopian 1984 is currently the most popular book in the world.
However, not far behind are Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, both high-quality instruction manuals.

Our dystopian reality was obvious long before Trump.

Speaking of Brave New Worlds, the United States is now officially no longer a "full democracy".

The US has lost its status as a “full democracy” and is now what the research group calls a “flawed democracy,” thanks to an erosion of public trust in political institutions that pre-dates Trump’s victory. In the EIU’s ninth annual Democracy Index, the number of full democracies around the world fell to 19, from 20 the year before. America’s downgrade puts it at 21 in the rankings, below Japan and even with Italy.

The US has been “teetering on the brink of becoming a flawed democracy” for years, the report says. Regardless of the result of the 2016 presidential election, the US was due a downgrade. Trust has been declining in the US for decades, leaving the country’s institutions battling a “legitimacy crisis” and struggling to sustain representative democracy in its current form, the report says.

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dystopia

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Comments

Submitted by k9disc on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 2:27pm

We're Going to Get the Singapore Solution. It's coming.

I've seen it in a few of those weird social media news sites. Before the other day, I had only heard about the replacement for the "failed experiment of democracy" from the Economist and other mainstream economic sources.

The Singapore solution, in short, is a benevolent corporate dictatorship. It's not a real term, I just made it up, but the solution is real. I've heard several economic movers and shakers mention it.

When Drumpf was going up against Hillary I figured they'd rather have Hillary, as she's a capable and loyal corporate steward -- they could rely on her pushing through the program. But they wouldn't care about Drumpf because it gave government a black eye and what says "failure of democracy" like President Drumpf?

—

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 2:45pm

benevolent corporate dictatorship?

@k9disc
Like this?

Submitted by Timmethy2.0 on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 6:20pm

Here's a best case scenario

@gjohnsit [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1BQPV-iCkU]

—

Beware the bullshit factories.

Submitted by Snode on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:45am

also

@gjohnsit Rolerball, the first one with James Caan, and the Orex and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood, mentioned above (really liked it)

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 3:13pm

WOW! The best oxymoron I've seen since Rocky & Bullwinkle

@k9disc pointed out that 'government intelligence' is a contradiction in terminology.

—

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Submitted by ZimInSeattle on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 3:25pm

I think I better stock up on soma.

—

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Submitted by boriscleto on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 4:27pm

I'm going to stock up on Foma

@ZimInSeattle

To survive in this Granfalloon.

—

" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

Submitted by Benny on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 3:42pm

What If the Hil Had Become POTUS

Would the US still be lower with Italy on the EIU list? I'm betting not. I'm not defending her at all as much as pondering considering she would have gone through with TPP, KXL and DAPL. The wall (not at all) and the grants for sanctuary cities would have been defunded eventually.

What I want to know is what that sheet of paper of Executive Orders about Obamacare contained. I thought Glenn and his gang would have been able to get more dirt on that one by now.

—

One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.--Tennyson

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 4:12pm

I'm not surprised it is #1.

My daughter is reading it, as well.

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 4:25pm

I suggest "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood,

in case Trump is impeached and we end up with Dominionist Mike Pence as president. It's chillingly dystopian.

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 4:47pm

Hmmm

@Lily O Lady
The Onion

The Onion again

WASHINGTON—Admonishing those responsible for failing to uphold their moral duties, Vice President Mike Pence expressed disappointment Saturday in the 200,000 husbands and fathers who had allowed the women and girls in their charge to attend the Women’s March on Washington. “I can’t tell you how let down I feel by the heads of these households who did not simply give their wives and daughters a firm, decisive ‘no’ when they asked to participate in today’s demonstration,” said Pence, noting with frustration that many of the protesters had been granted permission to travel across the country alone and stay for several days in a faraway city with no male chaperone whatsoever to guide and look after them. “There are a few men marching as well, so they must be the ones supervising this whole thing, and thank God for that. But I can’t help but feel that these ladies’ custodians—the ones who were supposed to be providing a masculine voice of reason on these sorts of matters—have really come up short today.” Pence stressed that he, for example, had told his 23-year-old eldest daughter that it was simply out of the question when she mentioned she was thinking of attending the march.

Submitted by Hawkfish on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:07pm

The Onion wins again

@gjohnsit I assumed that was for real.

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by CB on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 4:44pm

I just came back from TOP. I posted that Sanders would

have made a better candidate than Hillary.
Here's their response

Submitted by PriceRip on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:18pm

You have been found to be Unmutual.

@CB
We have a cure for that, you know.

Submitted by CB on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 6:38pm

“I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me.

@PriceRip
It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.” - George Orwell, 1984

Submitted by DonMidwest on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:39pm

I went there this morning and made several comments

@CB There was a diary up Thanking Trump because it led to activism

I posted CA berniecats take over Dem party, TYT's work on Justice Democrats, and on and on

Got very few responses

Again and again, why bother

Then went back there and Kos has up an attack on NPR which if read a little more is saying that the media, including NPR are responsible for Trump * they didn't cover Hillary the right way

I did get the usual comment of why not write my own diary.

Well, might check back over there in a few weeks

Sure hope Keith Ellison gets the job as head of DNC

Submitted by Dallasdoc on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 6:50pm

Uh oh

@CB Double plus ungood.

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Please help support caucus99percent!

Submitted by Hawkfish on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:06pm

Read the "Fine" manual

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by Hawkfish on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:12pm

Brave New World should be #1

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:55pm

Huxley was right for most people

@Hawkfish
but the government is rolling out Orwell for the rest of us.

Submitted by CB on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 7:11pm

Damn. They were both right

@Hawkfish

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 7:56pm

Yep! It's a candy mint AND a breath mint.

@CB

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by Hawkfish on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:23am

Or a floor wax and a dessert topping?

@Lily O Lady

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by solublefish on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:36pm

Great illustrations.

Neil Postman's book is certainly worth a read, too, these days. But it looks to me that both Huxley and Orwell are relevant here (though I too preferred Huxley to Orwell).

Huxley's world is a warning to complacent liberals: what they are creating.
Orwell's world is a description of what activist liberals/left are up against.
They both look pretty real to me!

Need I add Brazil?

(edited to add afterthought)

Submitted by Bisbonian on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:41pm

I've seen the last four

@Hawkfish

panels, before. Thanks for posting the whole thing. They were both right, in some ways. I suspect that, in the end, George R. Stewart may get even more of it right.

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by Mark from Queens on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 5:23pm

Love this Huxley vs. Orwell graphic

and have thought of posting it at various apropos times here (but always wondered if it would lay on the page properly - looks great!). Thanks for putting it up.

The subject of this graphic is worthy of its own essay, for sure.

—

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Submitted by Hawkfish on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:24am

I just inserted the link

@Mark from Queens jTc did the rest.

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by CB on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 6:43pm

The US dropped on that list under Obama

We'll have to wait until next year to see how much further we will sink.

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 7:57pm

Good point.

@CB

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by nedsdag on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 7:48pm

How ironic!

The students in my Composition II class will be reading dystopian novels for their research paper. Here are the following novels (I know, 2001: A Space Odyssey isn't a true dystopian novel, but it does discuss how machines can conquer man):
1. 1984
2. Fahrenheit 451
3. Brave New World
4. Animal Farm
5. The Handmaid’s Tale
6. A Clockwork Orange
7. The Time Machine
8. The Road
9. Oryx and Crake
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
11. The Children of Men
12. Lord of the Flies
13. On the Beach
14. Never Let Me Go
15. The Iron Heel
16. Cat’s Cradle
17. The Giver
18. V for Vendetta
19. Anthem
20. I Am Legend
21. The Hunger Games
22. Atlas Shrugged
23. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
24. It Can’t Happen Here
I will also show this movie to my Composition I class:

Submitted by Mark from Queens on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:42pm

Nice to see "The Iron Heel" on that list.

@nedsdag

Bravo. That's a good list you've assigned for your students.

If you haven't read these two Jack London essays, you must. Furthermore, I think it would be a really good idea that they be read by every student wondering about how the world works:

What Life Means To Me

How I Became A Socialist

—

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Submitted by Bisbonian on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 8:43pm

I would add

@nedsdag
25. Earth Abides.

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by nedsdag on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 10:40pm

Thanks!

@Bisbonian Next semester, I will replace 2001: A Space Odyssey with that one.

Submitted by Hawkfish on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:27am

2001 is misunderstood

@nedsdag HAL killed the crew because he was given conflicting directives that drove him insane. Clarke's point was that human ulterior political concerns can be illogical and dangerous.

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:19am

We only found that out after the movie

@Hawkfish
I think it was in "2010" - and Clarke admitted that his four books (2001, 2010, 2061, 3001) are not fully consistent with each other and should be considered "variations on a theme" rather than sequels.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:55am

2001 was great

@TheOtherMaven
2010 was good
2061 was terrible, so I didn't read the last one.

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 12:56pm

You didn't miss anything

@gjohnsit
3001 was mostly "The Far Future According to Arthur C. Clarke", and some of his ideas were just plain silly (a "Society for Creative Anachronism" with dragons? Must have been taken over by the Pern fans).

Nothing much happens until the last few chapters, when it's a scramble to stop the Monoliths from killing off humanity (by stealth-bombing them with computer viruses - Clarke and Emmerich(?) came up with the same idea at about the same time, quite independently).

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by 2andfro on Wed, 01/25/2017 - 9:20pm

The Handmaid's Tale: coming to the small screen in April

Watch Hulu's first trailer for its take on 'The Handmaid's Tale'
The dystopian novel and movie are getting the streaming TV treatment.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/08/hulu-handmaids-tale-teaser-trailer/

—

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti

Submitted by peachcreek on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 3:30am

Maybe add a John Brunner as well..

Shockwave Rider, for example, has its weak spots, but I'd say no more than 4 or 5 others on your list.
Also, I am glad for your work, I hope it is fun for you. I think it is important.

Submitted by Hawkfish on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:29am

Bruner is scarily prescient

@peachcreek Every time I see organic produce I think of Puritan Markets. Not only did he get the trend, but he laid it squarely at the feet of American's biblical cleanliness obsessions.

—

We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Submitted by Snode on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 11:55am

Don't forget

@peachcreek @peachcreek his 2nd of the three, "The Sheep Look Up", kinda appropriate title for today. For a real downer about nuclear war is I think a BBC production called "Threads"

Submitted by orlbucfan on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 9:54am

How about THE LORD OF THE FLIES?

A most appropriate addition to the list. Rec'd!!

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Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Thu, 01/26/2017 - 10:37am

All the King's Men

is another that should see an uptick in sales.

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?