to now find this 1970s dystopian drama i watched two years ago even more chilling.

[MercyBooth]

www.imdb.com/title/tt0075469/

The writer was only out by thirty odd years. I wonder what he would think if he was alive now.

This state of affairs was precipitated by an irrecoverable national bankruptcy in 1981, triggering martial law followed by a general election in which only 20% of the electorate voted. The economy (and imports) drastically contracted forcing stringent rationing of housing, goods and services. These are distributed according to a person's LifeScore as determined (and constantly reviewed) by the PCD on behalf of the union-dominated socialist government. As a consequence, the higher-status individuals appear to be civil servants and union leaders. An exception to this are import/export agents, who appear to be immune to state control due to their importance to the remnants of the economy. The House of Lords has been abolished and turned into an exclusive dining club. State ownership of businesses appears to be close to 100% and prohibition of wealth and income appears to be very high.

I'm sure he'd be very thankful that it hadn't turned out as he'd envisaged. 🙂

Imports = exports re Brexit
Id cards = vaccine passports.

Great Britain, 1990. The population is now governed by an increasingly corrupt bureaucracy headed by the Home Secretary and backed by the tyrannical Public Control Department (PCD), who have done away with the rights of the individual and maintain control through ID cards, rationing, censorship and electronic/audio/physical surveillance. Free speech is forbidden. The rule of law no longer protects the weak and defenseless

stringent rationing of housing = shortage of social housing.

Im talking parallels not the whole thing.

The state can also declare a person to be a "non-citizen" which denies them any entitlement whatsoever to consumer goods, accommodation or food

I dont subscribe to The Times but here is a link anyway

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gps-raise-concerns-over-covid-passport-scheme-7n0pn7pw7

Silkie Carlo
@silkiecarlo
·
32m
The Times has just broken news that Boris Johnson will make a high level announcement on COVID passes on Monday & further details to be worked out for June...Thumbs down

In short: they’re going for internal passports, always were, and we’re going to stop them

V for Vendetta is also one people need to watch it even has a virus chucked in for good measure.

A year ago I would have said this reminds me of the Soviet Union.

Now, yes. It sounds like our increasingly authoritarian fake liberal government and the way things are going now.

@Againstmachine

V for Vendetta is also one people need to watch it even has a virus chucked in for good measure.

Yes, fantastic film. I always avoided it as it sounded like some kind of Bruce Willis action movie but the reality couldn't be more different.

Can I also very highly recommend 'Utopia' - the UK 2014 TV series not the US rip off.

It will make your blood run cold when you watch parts of it and could easily be transposed over the covid shitshow.

I bought and read George orwells 1984 recently, I think bookshops have moved it from their fiction section in best seller classics to the politics area of modern day.. frightening how so many people are prepared to sacrifice what past generations fought to hard to avoid- subservience to a totalitarian state

It’s interesting the number of people so terrified that they are willing to put their total trust in a government who has blatantly and shamefully lied about vaccines passports all along on the basis that they believe they are protected by scientists.

Let the civil unrest commence.

@dividedwefall Ive never seen V. for Vendetta I thought it was some macho action film so avoided it.

V for vendetta is great, I'd avoided it too, along with inside no9 which I thought was some political thing

@Heathermary1995

I bought and read George orwells 1984 recently, I think bookshops have moved it from their fiction section in best seller classics to the politics area of modern day.. frightening how so many people are prepared to sacrifice what past generations fought to hard to avoid- subservience to a totalitarian state

I was ranting about this early to DH. How can people just roll over and let those hard fought freedoms of the truly heroic WW2 generation evaporate. I guess people have had it good for so long they just can't believe the powers that be would do a rerun of Goebbels' Big Lie.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

Children of Men is another one that gave me chills when I first saw it in the cinema, now it no longer feels shocking. It was ahead of its time, especially with regards to migrant camps in the UK.

Another vote for V for Vendetta, a great film and very apt right now.

Thanks @RhubarbTea . I will check out Children of Men.

I really hate V for Vendetta. It's like watching what those conspiracy theorists think.

It is truly chilling the society we have now become. So many of our freedoms are rapidly disappearing. Our governments are corrupt and bringing in a new world order for the satanic elites.

Children of Men feels horribly close with the current direction of the Home Office being what it is. Really hard to watch.

@bearandowl

The trouble with saying shit like that is, yes you’re right up to a point, but you sound like a lunatic when you say “satanic new world order”.

That’s bobbins.

They do it because they can shore up power for themselves and line their pockets. Nothing more, nothing less.

@Ephe17 exactly , if you tell a lie in a convincing enough fashion presented well enough it's amazing the guff people swallow. You only have to look at religion as an eg of that which billions follow

[quote MercyBooth]@dividedwefall Ive never seen V. for Vendetta I thought it was some macho action film so avoided it.[/quote]
It's actually a brilliant film; highly recommended.

For the full impact of V For Vendetta you need to read the graphic novel. It knocks the socks off the film adaptation.

@Ephe17 It is really something to watch the technique in action, live. Why can't people see and feel it? The propaganda seems so obvious to me. Every unnatural 3 word slogan grates on my brain.

In fact every time Gove, Boris or anyone else in the inner circle says something won't/can't/shouldn't/mustn't happen I feel a sense of impending doom as it always signals the beginning of a subliminal marketing campaign to bring that very thing about.

The trilogy: Maze Runner, reminds me a bit of covid - the grownups are sacrificing the freedoms of the youth to fight a virus. Though its tricky to know who’s side i would of been on - the scientists just wanting a cure to end the misery of the ones that are dying, or the kids who dont even get ill from the virus, and are just wanting their freedom back. Typical me flip flopped my opinions through most of the series.

Just for interest the Blair government actually had already started the process of rolling back those hard fought for civil liberties. It’s why the election after I didn’t vote Labour for the first time in my adult life. That and the whole Iraq war issue. Film Taking Liberties documents it well.

I think it’s highly likely that as soon as possible most of our freedoms will return but some restrictions may need to stay. The Tories are individualists at their core.

The latest crime etc bill is more worrying to me and the crackdown on our right to non violent resistance and direct action. Without it women might never have gained the vote and apartheid might never have been defeated. We need that option when the government are not looking after the needs and rights of the population and aren’t listening.