Black Mirror and the Causes of Our Real Dystopia

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Does human nature doom us to dystopia?

The TV series Black Mirror often presents a bleak, grim, dystopian vision of the near future, and technology plays a central role in causing that grimness and dystopia. Many who comment on or analyze this show say that the message in Black Mirror is that the problem isn’t technology; it’s humanity or even human nature. By this they mean that human nature is rigid and narrow and that any negative patterns in our species that are causing dystopian outcomes are inevitable and can’t be overcome.

The world we live in is dystopian in many ways, so if these comments are correct, then we’re basically screwed.

But is it actually true that technology plus humanity inevitably leads to disaster and dystopia? In this video essay and its sequel I argue that the answer is no.

This video offers an alternative explanation for the causes of our real life dystopia. And in the next video I make the case that humanity is capable of creating a world that is non-dystopian and actually pretty damn awesome, a world free of the divisions of rich and poor, dominators and dominated. And in both videos, I relate the discussion to Black Mirror.

Sequel video: Black Mirror and Escaping Our Real Dystopia

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
0:00 An abusive relationship
8:26 Dystopia & technology: blaming human nature
18:09 Dystopia & technology: alternative hypothesis
22:35 Dominance hierarchy
30:14 What is capitalism?
33:23 Black Mirror or real life?
38:27 What about the good things?
41:56 Capitalism and Profit
47:18 Capitalism, Ownership, and Power
56:14 Dystopia
1:14:53 Black Mirror, technology, and the state
1:20:56 What is the state?
1:23:29 How the state influences technology
1:29:08 The state and technology for domination
1:45:31 Wasted Potential
1:48:09 Possibilities: Technology and Our Potential
1:52:27 Possibilities: Egalitarian Societies (preview of next video)
1:53:27 Wrap-up

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►►Check out some of my other videos◄◄

► POST-CAPITALISM: A Detailed Look at How It Could Work

► Political Compass Rap but it’s ALL SOCIALISTS

► Communism & Socialism: What Do They REALLY Mean?

► 8 Types of "Socialism" in 75 Minutes || Economic Systems Explained

► 8 Types of "Socialism" in 10 Minutes

► The *Socialist* Political Compass: Methods to create socialism

► Playlist


AUDIO VISUAL CREDITS
• Black Mirror
• “RiP: A Remix Manifesto” NFB, directed/written by Brett Gaylor, 2008
• Other credits given in the video


VISUAL CREDITS

• Black Mirror

Creative Commons
• “Nature’s greatest dancers - BBC Earth Trailer”
• “TarSands” Citizen Media for We The People

Freepik
• People photo created by 8photo
• Doctor photo created by standret
• Business photo created by pressfoto
• Video: Unrecognizable businessman on the street holding bundle of american money in his hands, counting it


MUSIC CREDITS
• Black Mirror soundtrack, season 1 episode 2
• Relaxing (Bensound.com)
• English Country Garden (Aaron Kenny)
• Basa Basa Beat (Nana Kwabena)
• Tucson (Silent Partner)
• Boardroom Theme (Unicorn Heads)


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CONTACT
1luckyblackcat at g m a i l



SEARCH TERMS
Black Mirror, capitalism, the state, government, dystopia, dystopian, technology, techno-dystopian, dominance hierarchy, 15 Million Merits, Fifteen Million Merits, Men Against Fire, human nature