At its core, dystopian fiction is a warning against complacency. By depicting societies where individuality is suppressed, knowledge is controlled, and human rights are disregarded, these stories compel readers to evaluate the fragility of the freedoms we often take for granted. Characteristics of a dystopian society: information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted/censored. A figurehead or concept is worshiped by the citizens of the society. Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. Citizens have a fear of the outside world. A corporate dystopia is very similar to that of a government dystopia except that the controlling power is often a private organization. Corporate dystopia is a future or alternate history where corporate power has lead to an oppressive society, a society that fails to meet at least some peoples needs, or otherwise fits the typical definitions of a dystopia.
The US billionaire Warren Buffett once observed that “there’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” This remains key to understanding everything happening today: the capitalist class is on the offensive, and it is as determined to exploit today’s crisis of capitalism to its advantage as it was when ripping up the postwar consensus in the 1970s. Trump administration’s hobbling of CFPB raising concern because it’s a political risk to hobble a watchdog of financial institutions that has sought to limit overdraft fees and junk fees. President Trump has fired heads of offices and agencies tasked, since Watergate, with protecting federal workers and whistleblowers. This includes Internet watchdogs that fight disinformation. The aim is unfettered corporate power, capitalism unchecked by democracy. Elon Musk, leading the assault on the middle and working class, is orchestrating full-on class warfare.1
The concept of sustainable development is named after the Brundtland report, which reported sustainable consumption in developed countries: “Sustainable development is based on three fundamental pillars: social, economic and environmental.” One extremely strong pillar will not hold a building, but three mildly strong pillars will. The social pillar is crucial because it focuses on the well-being and fairness of people within a community. The economic or governance pillar refers to maintaining honest and transparent accounting practices and regulatory compliance. The environmental pillar includes organisations that prioritise the environment will have a focus on minimising waste and pollution. The “economic pillar” of sustainability refers to the aspect of sustainability that focuses on maintaining a healthy and growing economy while considering environmental and social factors, ensuring long-term economic prosperity without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs; essentially, achieving economic growth in a responsible way that doesn’t harm the environment or society at large.
Similarly, democratic governments are built on three pillars that when kept in balance with each other ensure the sustainability of the government, the liberties and basic human rights of society as well as the survivability of our society in general: economic, social and environment. The social pillar encompasses policies that relate to our liveability and equality within society. Things like health, education and homelessness all fall under the social pillar. The economic pillar contains everything to do with the economy, business and corporations. Small business, stock markets and in short anything related to the economy. The final pillar is the environmental pillar and deals with the outside environment, nature and animals. While it can deal with the human-built environment, it mainly focuses on the natural environment around us. Together these three pillars build the foundation for a great society and the magnitudes of benefits that come with it.
However, if one pillar is ignored or given greater attention for a prolonged period, then society becomes unbalanced, inefficient and unsustainable for the future. By making these pillars unbalanced, a government will bring either: instability to their community or some form of a totalitarian state, where freedoms and liberties are infringed upon. Nonetheless, there will be times when one is given preferences over the others for the greater good of society, but one must be careful that they are quick to revert to an equilibrium of the pillars as soon as possible, else they will incur drastic and devastating implications in the long run. Therefore, a government must be extremely careful and precise so that they do little to disrupt this balance. Leaders must be mindful of behaving properly. They must not be on a quest to fulfill an agenda or let their high ambitions for control and power cloud their judgement.2
But today, the pillars – state, market, and community – of society are in imbalance. And we need to recalibrate them to get the right balance. Whenever we go through technological progress or are shaken by a collapsing economy, depression or recession, the balance is disturbed until society finds a new equilibrium. In recent decades, two pillars have grown at the expense of the community, which has caused the community to languish. Today, we can solve many of the problems that we are plagued with by reviving the community. Communities have also been at the forefront of movements against corruption and cronyism, and these movements have kept away the state from getting into an implicit understanding with the big businesses. A strong community is important to preserve the vibrant market democracies and is probably one of the reasons why authoritarian movements crush community consciousness and try to instill nationalist and proletarian consciousness.
Society gains the most when its three pillars are in balance. The state provides security, it always has, and the state also tries to ensure equity in economic outcomes through policies like affirmative action, housing for the less privileged, etc. The goal behind the policies is to create a level playing field so that people are equally placed to participate in the market. The competitive market ensures that those who succeed use resources effectively and efficiently, and the successful since they are independent of the state, have some ability to stand up against arbitrary action of the state. Active communities, which are organized politically and socially, act as a check to keep the states and markets separate. If the states and the market aren’t separate, the economy will become a crony and authoritarian one. Russia is a good example of what happens when the state and market get too comfortable with one another.3
The Social Contract is the most fundamental source of all that is good and that which we depend upon to live well. Our choice is either to abide by the terms of the contract, or return to the State of Nature, which Hobbes argues no reasonable person could possibly prefer. The Social Contract – that in the US was centered around social mobility and in Europe around economic security – looks increasingly broken and the gap between the highly skilled and everyone else is growing. These technological and economic transformations have reshaped the relationships between education, work, opportunities and welfare, rendering the previous social contract outdated, and making it necessary to establish a new one that benefits everyone. There is a need for social contact renewal – to address the corporate dystopia. If people’s expressed needs are not addressed over a significant amount of time, it can risk the government legitimacy.
The government and tech have created a massive surveillance state: “big bother is watching you.” George Orwell wrote “1984”, his dystopian masterpiece, to teach people a lesson about the negative things that could happen if they allowed their government to exercise total control. The novel explores themes of totalitarianism, the individual versus the collective, and the dangers of unaccountable governments. One of Orwell’s most important messages in 1984 is that language is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that individuals are capable of formulating and expressing. Donald Trump is trying to create a dystopian society/government that works: this includes rampant capitalism, corporate corruption, suppressing ethical judgement by media, conspiracy theories, chronic racial and class division. Corporate money now controls the outcome of US elections, and the legislation that is passed by those who have been elected.
A dystopian world is on the horizon: the aim is unfettered corporate power, capitalism unrestrained by democracy. America First is actually code for Big Business First – a system that will only create wealth for the few. In dystopian story world, you need to realize that any dystopian society/government can be made to work if the primary values of that society/government are held in high enough esteem and if sufficient compromises are made. Revolutions happen when sufficient numbers of people in a society decide some compromises are no longer worth making, societal values of right and wrong start to shift, or sufficient numbers of people imagine a new paradigm where less or more acceptable compromises are required. We must become better communicators and champion democracy. Early in the election cycle, determine who your supporters are, then focus on the message that will turn them out to vote.
As corporations and oligarchs gain more control over politics and society, they erode the principles and institutions of democracy and human rights. They undermine the rule of law, the separation of powers, the freedom of expression, the right to privacy, the right to education, the right to health care, and other civil liberties. They also promote extremism, such as, authoritarianism, nationalism, populism, fascism. A fundamental element of the social contract is more equitable prosperity with fair and equitable distribution of income, satisfying people’s need for security and opportunity while also addressing the challenges that affect society as a whole. Culture plays an essential role in the journey towards sustainable development. Boasting both social and economic development aspects, culture can provide immense support to the three pillars required for sustainable development. A social contract along these lines helps create a sense of social cohesion and cooperation, which is necessary for the functioning of any society. This process stops the radical agenda of Project 2025 and counters the accompanying corporate dystopia.4
1 https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-yes-warren-buffett-225700758.html
3 https://medium.com/illumination/the-three-pillars-of-society-de156eaa6db3
4 https://questioningandskepticism.com/rousseau-and-freedom-a-renewed-social-contract/