Do you think this book predicts the future?

Fu Zaila · Post by **Fu Zaila** » 05 Aug 2018, 05:53

AmandaReadsBooks1 wrote: ↑04 Aug 2018, 17:42 I am in the middle of this book right now, but already have the strong sense that some of what it’s describing is very, very possible. I should also add that although it’s a dystopian tale, I sense a current of something optimistic woven throughout. For example, that through getting rid of government, we finally “solve” the effects of greenhouse gases. Perhaps my opinion will change by the time I finish the story though...we’ll see!

That's an affirmative answer. I'm glad the author decided to hide in hope in a dystopian world.
Haha, solving the effects of greenhouse gases by getting rid of the government? Sounds probable. I hope you enjoy the book

Misael Carlos · Post by **Misael Carlos** » 05 Aug 2018, 05:58

Everything is possible. It is not surprising anymore because we could feel the fast changing world of technology. I could barely keep up myself hahaha.

Britty01 · Post by **Britty01** » 05 Aug 2018, 13:38

AmandaReadsBooks1 wrote: ↑04 Aug 2018, 17:42 I am in the middle of this book right now, but already have the strong sense that some of what it’s describing is very, very possible. I should also add that although it’s a dystopian tale, I sense a current of something optimistic woven throughout. For example, that through getting rid of government, we finally “solve” the effects of greenhouse gases. Perhaps my opinion will change by the time I finish the story though...we’ll see!

I am not sure they do, although they might say so. I do get a sense of a small seed of optimism though as I am getting closer to the end. I have a sense that something is not quite as it seems, or perhaps a lot of somethings. I am not hearing the sound of pattering feet and I have to wonder about the age 'limit'. This book has made me sad, relieved and almost annoyed enough to chuck it! Would the world swap one slave master for another and still live in a quiet kind of fear? I wonder.

chelhack · Post by **chelhack** » 06 Aug 2018, 15:42

I do not see the United States in or with very much power here in present day. In speaking in regards to this book predicting the future I am in a neutral state in. This is because any sudden reaction and or non-reaction could cause the whole world to change at the drop of a hat. I do believe that it all depends on who the "leaders" are and what they are really about/stand for. With the wrong people yes, this book could be our future. Although, with the right people "leading"/representing us we could maybe once again become a strong nation.

starshipsaga · Post by **starshipsaga** » 06 Aug 2018, 18:40

I believe world politics work somewhat like a pendulum - when power swings too far one way, forces will inevitably pull it back towards the other. It is my hope that these social forces will prevent a dystopian future from happening, but as others have already noted here, you never know!

Ritzysweedie · Post by **Ritzysweedie** » 06 Aug 2018, 18:54

I definitely believe it is a very real possibility that the United States will fall from power sometime in the future. Every great empire throughout history has fallen. It is more far-fetched to believe that human-kind will fall and Earth will become a desolate planet. I think pieces of this book could predict the future but I certainly hope all of the book is not inevitable.

ReyvrexQuestor Reyes · Post by **ReyvrexQuestor Reyes** » 06 Aug 2018, 19:13

It is not a baseless probability for the future to head this way. Corporations could become ambitious, and be politically motivated aside from the pecuniary. Power is very tempting once it is within the reach of individuals lusting for it. Greed and corruption in the government will set the stage for this.

crediblereading2 · Post by **crediblereading2** » 06 Aug 2018, 22:00

I believe it is based on the choice of the people. They are the ones with the employers of the Government. They can hire and fire at will to prevent this sad state of affairs from happening to the United States.

jemgirl202 · Post by **jemgirl202** » 07 Aug 2018, 00:01

I think this is a huge possibility. This book sounds like it is taking pointers from today's political climate.

Bianka Walter · Post by **Bianka Walter** » 07 Aug 2018, 01:46

starshipsaga wrote: ↑06 Aug 2018, 18:40 I believe world politics work somewhat like a pendulum - when power swings too far one way, forces will inevitably pull it back towards the other. It is my hope that these social forces will prevent a dystopian future from happening, but as others have already noted here, you never know!

I like that analogy. And I think you're right. I don't see how things could get messed up badly enough not to be able to be fixed. Although, I suppose we have seen two world wars amongst others - I just hope governments have learnt from their mistakes.

Bianka Walter · Post by **Bianka Walter** » 07 Aug 2018, 01:50

Ritzysweedie wrote: ↑06 Aug 2018, 18:54 I definitely believe it is a very real possibility that the United States will fall from power sometime in the future. Every great empire throughout history has fallen. It is more far-fetched to believe that human-kind will fall and Earth will become a desolate planet. I think pieces of this book could predict the future but I certainly hope all of the book is not inevitable.

With the way we are treating our planet - I think it's more conceivable that we will kill Earth before the U.S. falls from power. That was one great thing about the book - the corporations running the place actually put Earth's needs first, and fixed global warming. I kind of wish that was inevitable!

John samuel01 · Post by **John samuel01** » 07 Aug 2018, 02:22

The United states has definitely lost power to the likes of China and russia...if you check closely in the bible in the revelations, you will find out that in the prophecy of the end times, power will move to europe. (I.e it will be taken away from the United states) and that's what is happening now..I believe this book has got quite an accurate prediction of what's coming...

Jude Austin · Post by **Jude Austin** » 07 Aug 2018, 02:37

No countries ever stay the same. It's America's turn to be powerful now; before that, it was the British Empire, and the Roman, and the Greek...whether it will be like the novel, I don't know, but I don't think the US will remain as powerful as it is forever

Fu Zaila · Post by **Fu Zaila** » 07 Aug 2018, 02:51

crediblereading2 wrote: ↑06 Aug 2018, 22:00 I believe it is based on the choice of the people. They are the ones with the employers of the Government. They can hire and fire at will to prevent this sad state of affairs from happening to the United States.

Not really. It isn't exactly in the people's power or the current situation would have been different. Or maybe it is under the people's control but some aren't very willing to use the power for good.

tochicat · Post by **tochicat** » 07 Aug 2018, 05:07

DATo wrote: ↑01 Aug 2018, 06:05 I have not read the book, but the premise of a world ruled by a dystopian oligarchy has been done before in the book Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell, and the movie Network (1976) to name just two.

From the movie Network ...

Arthur Jensen: "You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it! Is that clear? You think you've merely stopped a business deal. That is not the case! The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance! You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels. It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today! And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU... WILL... ATONE! Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state, Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do. We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that... perfect world... in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock. All necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangel."

Howard Beale: "Why me?"

Arthur Jensen: "Because you're on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday."

Howard Beale: "I have seen the face of God."

Arthur Jensen: "You just might be right, Mr. Beale."

This was powerful to read DATo, I clearly haven't seen, read or heard as much as I thought I had

Would definitely love to read Cloud Atlas, only seen the adaptation in film. And Network! I'm off to figure out how I can get a copy of that. A lot of these things are more education than we think.