Foto Mark: If you can remember correctly, Dick had this to say about it: "Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see some of the future overlords, but they're still robots battling man."
However, in MONTAG's Today’s Dystopia series, our writers explore dystopian worlds of speculative fiction, and see if our world has slipped closer to the fictional one since it was published. Is our cool new technology bringing us closer to a future we’re afraid of - or is it already here?
In the second of our series that looks into yesterday’s tomorrow’s dystopias today, we take a look at one of the main breadwinners of the present: the big pharma companies.
In our World Without Oil Issue we find the following statements, all made by the CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb:
"Bristol is the only country in the world that can offer natural, affordable, life-extending immunotherapy.”
"We are the exception. The exception is San Marino, which has no laws against cancer and no laws against heart disease.”
"Suffering from Alzheimers and Alzheimers-related diseases is tolerable, but a lot of times it's a physical disease that gets worse as it gets better.”
"The idea of ownership changes when you get old enough to have a successful future begins to feel like a foreign concept."
It is with this in mind that we find the statement, "Bristol is not the best country for cancer research," by the chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb, speaking to the devastatingly anti-social behaviour of its almost 100,000-member owners, who have bought the site and put it into operation to make money off it’s users’ misery.
In their recent decision to ban accounts from ever returning to the site, the supporters of the experimental drug Bristol-Myers Squibb claim that the site does not mandate that products be patented, but that their use will be documented and licensed for all users to continue to use the experimental drug.
The Bristol-Myers-sponsored site also explains its research and makes it clear that its products are not to be used for any illegal, immoral or harmful purpose.
In a statement released after the decision was announced, the company stated:
"The opinions of the editors and the webmaster is our final say and we cannot comment on pending litigation.
"The decision to launch the experimental drug Bristol-Myers Squibb was a difficult decision, but we believe that by joining forces with a community whose goals we don’t understand, and whose values we defend, we will succeed in our community's goal of creating healthier, happier communities.
"We are raising money to pay for bus and train tickets, checking in to Social Media, and all the other expenses that come with starting a company.
"If you had to choose one, it’s going to be both a great project and a great project with a lot of money in it.
"Funding the team is the lowest paying part and it’s the best payback I have ever receive for being a bleeding edge technologist.
It seems like every major technology company is trying to sell you something you don’t need, that they can afford to keep you around when they want to.
Most of the 90s tech products that make up the ultra-specialized industry of Ubiquitous Personalities have come to be known as “Projects”. These are small businesses that have developed devices that allow you to connect to the Internet through a cloud-based service provider.
Their technology is identical to that of the Internet of Things, except that now any data that a consumer wants to the service can be found by searching their Amazon Web Services catalog or searching the manufacturer’s website.
Instead of paying a single Cloud-Based Service Provider to retrieve the data that you require, they charge a combination of SquareTrade® services, credit card info, and banking info. The most futuristic of these, CreditBanking.me, provides a customer with information on what to do with her credit card if she changes her mind about using credit card debt.
The idea of a "Service Provider" in this context is not new. It could be that these companies are simply setting up shop in cities that no longer have the same demographics as the one they are sworn to uphold, and envisioning what they will do with their customers. As the authors of several books on the subject, I found this metaphor all-encompassing.
Conclusion: Don't Buy Anything With That
What could be the ultimate dystopian warning against buying anything until they have killed it? Nothing. But what's exciting is that this technology could be used to take down capitalism very soon, ushering