Quote:
Originally Posted by xg4bx
i think i'm beginning to look at some of the 'grit' and pessimism in fiction as a reflection of my own fears. fears that are obviously shared by many authors. i don't really fear being attacked by my neighbors. i don't fear aliens, disaster or apocalypse. what i fear is the loss of knowledge, 'self' and my remaining freedoms to an all encompassing authority. and i don't think it's an unrealistic fear when i see the rising militarization of our police forces, the will of the people continually being subverted, increased monitoring and security presence, employers asking for facebook passwords, etc. you can find these stories on a daily basis, it's not 'tin foil hat' stuff anymore. those are my fears and my own pessimism, they just happen to come from a real place. no future in science fiction is as scary as the one orwell portrayed in 1984, huxley in brave new world and bradbury in fahrenheit 451. i think we're living in a combined version of those dystopias. big brother is taking over and we're too amused by the bread&circuses to care.
that's the pessimism i can identify with, not the 'everybody is a treacherous scumbag' sort.
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I can understand that. I fear being tracked/watched. I fear losing the rights I have as a woman. I fear the corruption of our country by the general population being controlled by various fears and not by knowledge.
But I hope that there is something I can do as an individual. Of course, that is why I prefer my SFF to be more optimistic. Living in DC, I brood enough as it is.