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conulyWe can all think of many reasons the worlds of Harrison Bergeron or The Lottery don't make any sense, but if you think that way you'll never pass 10th grade English.
So when I read, after being linked to it, Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair, I tried not to overthink it. Why did they come up with this particular solution to their Malthusian dystopia? Why were there no protestors at all? Seriously, this was the best they could come up with? Could that ending have been foreshadowed any harder? Did it even need foreshadowing to begin with? Are we sure it's not rigged so some groups of people have higher odds than others? Are they sure of that?
But none of this is the point. However, I have hit upon one nitpick that I think is worth asking: Where are the suicidal philanthropists who don't care about the fair but only want to up their odds of leaving this crapsack world? What about the ones who'll gladly exchange tickets for money to support their cat/wife/child/grandma because it's the best bet they've got, even with the jobs lotteries? (Actually, maybe the government outright pays people to off themselves if they're not willing to stand at a noisy crowded fair all day, gambling and gambling.)
Honestly, I feel like I've spent more time pondering the worldbuilding than anybody ever spent reading the short story. This is why it doesn't pay to overthink this sort of thing!
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Intro to Female-Authored Fantasy Flowchart
Hemp gains powerful ally to free it from marijuana ties
How Arrow-Wielding Men Mapped Britain in the 1940s
Berkeley Lab Scientists Print All-Liquid 3-D Structures (It's a bit early for April Fool's, but I'm still not sure we should take this one seriously.)
Young Gorillas Have Learned to Dismantle Poacher's Traps in The Wild (Good for them!)
Yucky ducky? Study reveals bath-time toy's dirty secret
How Local Housing Regulations Smother the U.S. Economy
More States Move To End 'Tampon Tax' That's Seen As Discriminating Against Women
No tampons in prison? #MeToo helps shine light on issue
Blue states sue Trump over census citizenship question
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment
Black teens on Parkland gun debate: What about us?
How a Young Woman Lost Her Identity
ICE Contractor Says It Doesn’t Use Solitary Confinement. Photos of Its Isolation Cells Reveal Otherwise.
Thousands more leave Syria's Ghouta, rebels await Russian decision
The world's toughest place to study?
Mark Zuckerberg Is Expected To Testify Before Congress On Data Misuse: Reports
Cambridge Analytica's ruthless bid to sway the vote in Nigeria
Facebook has been collecting call history and SMS data from Android devices
So when I read, after being linked to it, Spending a Day at the Lottery Fair, I tried not to overthink it. Why did they come up with this particular solution to their Malthusian dystopia? Why were there no protestors at all? Seriously, this was the best they could come up with? Could that ending have been foreshadowed any harder? Did it even need foreshadowing to begin with? Are we sure it's not rigged so some groups of people have higher odds than others? Are they sure of that?
But none of this is the point. However, I have hit upon one nitpick that I think is worth asking: Where are the suicidal philanthropists who don't care about the fair but only want to up their odds of leaving this crapsack world? What about the ones who'll gladly exchange tickets for money to support their cat/wife/child/grandma because it's the best bet they've got, even with the jobs lotteries? (Actually, maybe the government outright pays people to off themselves if they're not willing to stand at a noisy crowded fair all day, gambling and gambling.)
Honestly, I feel like I've spent more time pondering the worldbuilding than anybody ever spent reading the short story. This is why it doesn't pay to overthink this sort of thing!
Intro to Female-Authored Fantasy Flowchart
Hemp gains powerful ally to free it from marijuana ties
How Arrow-Wielding Men Mapped Britain in the 1940s
Berkeley Lab Scientists Print All-Liquid 3-D Structures (It's a bit early for April Fool's, but I'm still not sure we should take this one seriously.)
Young Gorillas Have Learned to Dismantle Poacher's Traps in The Wild (Good for them!)
Yucky ducky? Study reveals bath-time toy's dirty secret
How Local Housing Regulations Smother the U.S. Economy
More States Move To End 'Tampon Tax' That's Seen As Discriminating Against Women
No tampons in prison? #MeToo helps shine light on issue
Blue states sue Trump over census citizenship question
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment
Black teens on Parkland gun debate: What about us?
How a Young Woman Lost Her Identity
ICE Contractor Says It Doesn’t Use Solitary Confinement. Photos of Its Isolation Cells Reveal Otherwise.
Thousands more leave Syria's Ghouta, rebels await Russian decision
The world's toughest place to study?
Mark Zuckerberg Is Expected To Testify Before Congress On Data Misuse: Reports
Cambridge Analytica's ruthless bid to sway the vote in Nigeria
Facebook has been collecting call history and SMS data from Android devices
no subject
Date: 2018-03-28 10:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-28 07:10 pm (UTC)Yay hemp!
Date: 2018-03-28 04:41 pm (UTC)I'm heavily ambivalent about THC, but do think it's less problematic than alcohol in terms of its social implications. In terms of how THC is currently produced - there are a lot of ecological concerns that still need to be addressed.
no subject
Date: 2018-03-28 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 01:22 am (UTC)