From 2017 and for the next ten years, science fiction lovers expect "prophecies" of their favorite writers and directors to be fulfilled. The problem is that some of the worst predictions are already a reality.









When we think about chronologies that have been chosen by writers to set up their futuristic works, our minds usually go to '1984' by George Orwell.





Although there are significant disagreements on whether the dark predictions for the creation of a permanent surveillance society have been confirmed, we all feel relieved through a common thought: the next great Dystopia, which Aldous Huxley envisioned in his book "Brave New World", is 523 years from now, as the story takes place in the year 2540 AD. (or 632 after Ford, according to the book).





Yet, dozens of other writers have put their fantastic societies in a much closer date for us. 2017 is, for example, the year that, according to the film "The Running Man" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the economy collapses, the United States turns into a totalitarian police state. World's population is being manipulated with "Survivor" type TV shows so that any revolt against the cruel working conditions to be prevented. If you are Black in America or Greek in the EU, you fit about 80% in these forecasts.





Philip Dick sets his story in 2019 in the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" on which the film "Blade Runner" is based. And we may not live, as he had predicted, among Androids, but the American Marxist sociologist Mike Davis often uses scenes from the book and the film to describe the class divide observed in modern cities.





In just two years we expect the fulfillment of the "prophecies" from the award-winning book "The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell. Meaning that groups of Jesuits should travel to the Alpha Centauri, where there is no some divine revelation for them, but prostitution, in which they are being forced by various alien races.





If you can wait until 2024, you will probably experience the unification of Ireland after a series of successful terrorist attacks by the Irish Republican Army. This was at least predicted by the creators of the Star Trek TV series in an episode of the third season, which was banned in Great Britain and Ireland. When finally broadcasted, the scene where Data refers to the reunification of Ireland was removed. In this scene, the hero uses the following words: "Would it be accurate to say that terrorism is acceptable when all options for peaceful settlement have been foreclosed? " By 2024, however, Great Britain is more likely to have lost Scotland rather than Northern Ireland.





Two years later, in 2026, it is expected that Fritz Lang's prophecies will be fulfilled through the classic film of German Expressionism, "Metropolis". The absolute class division that the film predicted, between the ruling aristocrats, the workers, and the middle layers of technocrats that ensure the smooth operation of the system, has rather been confirmed. However, the shift from eight working hours to ten, turned out to be a moderate prediction by Fritz Lang.





Outstanding similarities to the reality experienced by millions of refugees and immigrants can be found in the film "Children of Men", based on the book of P. D. James, taking place in - not so distant – 2027. Britain has become a police state to prevent the entry of asylum seekers, described as cockroaches (the British "Daily Mail" already describes them as rats, while in Greece Takis Theodoropoulos wrote in Kathimerini newspaper for "stray" Afghans that multiply like "cancer"). The concentration camps for immigrants in the book already exist in several countries, and several scenes from the film directly reference to Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the Homeland Security Department of the United States. The main pattern of the film, however, is the sterility of the population, which we increasingly meet in movies that are taking place in our very close future.





The American TV series "The Handmaid's Tale", based on Margaret Atwood's book, describes a society occupied by fundamentalist Christians when the ecological disaster of the planet starts to induce infertility to men.





But if you expect positive news from science fiction, you have to stay alive until 2173 AD when the Orgasmatron device - from Woody Allen's "Sleeper" - which causes direct orgasms will be discovered.





Yet, this sounds as fake as maintaining primary surpluses above 3% by 2038 (as predicted by a secret ESM - European Stability Mechanism report) and debt relief in 2060 for Greece, which we heard in a recent Eurogroup.





Better to become Androids in "Blade Runner".





Article by Aris Chatzistefanou, translated from the original source:



