Dystopia

A dystopian future is one where the social problems of today become greater in magnitude, producing a future that is filled with crime, war, and similar evils.

A dystopian society may also be imagined as a society where a ruling elite controls the vast majority of wealth and political power while simultaneously disseminating propaganda to the masses to control the lower and middle classes. This ruling elite may be seen as propagating misinformation in order to socially control the citizens. This propaganda is usually revealed in such a manner that the elite are the caretakers and providers of the lower middle class.

In many fictional depictions of dystopian societies, the propaganda—which would be disseminated by an overwhelmingly powerful government (Big Brother) or a totalitarian cabal—would psychologically force the lower classes to believe that they are living in a utopia that represents the culmination and perfection of civilization, where in actuality, crime and bureaucratic corruption are widespread. Typically, a dystopian novel is intended to comment on what the author perceives to be then current social trends by extrapolating those trends. Sometimes, as with Animal Farm, the dystopia is presented in the form of an allegory to get past the censors.

Dystopia in fiction

In the 20th and late 19th century, many well-known dystopian novels were written. Among these are:

• The Iron Heel
• We
• Anthem
• Brave New World
• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Fahrenheit 451

Broad List of Survivalist-Dystopian-Survival-Apocalypse-SHTF-Zombie Books-Films-TV

• The 100 (TV series)
• 12 Monkeys (Film), 1995, 2015 (TV Series)
• 28 Days Later, 2002
• 28 Weeks Later, 2007
• Akira (Manga Series), 1982-1990, 1988 (Film)
• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. A classic nuke scenario. This book was a key influence in James Wesley Rawles writing and it was his inspiration to write “Patriots” in a similar style
• Atlas Shrugged
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
• Battlestar Galactica‎
• Blade Runner
• The Book of Eli, 2010
• Brave New World
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Cast Away, 2000
• A Clockwork Orange
• The Colony (TV series)
• Deliverance, 1972
• Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, 1993
• Dredd, 2012
• Dr. Strangelove by Peter George and Stanley Kubrick (1964)
• Earth Abides by George Stewart
• Elysium
• Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
• Escape from New York
• Fahrenheit 451
• Falling Skies
• Firefly (TV series)
• The Flight of the Phoenix, 1965 with James Stewart
• The Handmaid's Tale
• The Hunger Games, 2008
• The Giver, 1993 novel by Lois Lowry, 2014 film with Jeff Bridges
• The Grey, 2011, with Liam Neeson
• I Am Legend, 1954 by Richard Matheson, 2007 film with Will Smith
• Into the Wild, 2007
• Jericho (TV series)
• Jeremiah (TV series)
• Judge Dredd 1995
• La Jetee, 1962 (Inspired the Terry Gilliam film, 12 Monkeys.)
• The Last Man on Earth, or The Last Man on Earth, 1964 Italian film with Vincent Price
• Left Behind, 1995 to 2007 by Tim LaHaye
• Life of Pi, 2012
• Lifeboat, 1944
• Lights Out by David Crawford (Post-EMP attack.)
• Logan's Run
• Lucifer's Hammer, 1977 by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
• Mad Max 1981
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985
• The Matrix, 1999, 2003
• Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party
• Minority Report
• Night of the Living Dead, 1968 by George A. Romero
• Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
• One Second After, 2009 by William R. Forstchen
• Outbreak (film), 1995 with Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland
• Open Water, 2003
• Patriots Novels Series by James Wesley Rawles
  • Survivors - A Novel of the Coming Collapse
  • Founders - A Novel of the Coming Collapse
  • Expatriates - A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse
  • Liberators - A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse
• Panic in Year Zero!, 1962 with Ray Milland
• Planet of the Apes 1968 by Pierre Boulle
• Power Rangers RPM, 2009
• Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys (Plague total wipe-out scenario. This book was another with an influence in James Wesley Rawles writing.)
• The Omega Man, 1971
• The Omen
• The Poseidon Adventure, 1972 with Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine
• The Postman, 1997
• The Purge
• Rescue Dawn, 2006 by Werner Herzog with Christian Bale
• Resident Evil, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012 with Milla Jovovich
• Robinson Crusoe, 1719 by Daniel Defoe, 1954 and 1997 film with Pierce Brosnan
• RoboCop
• The Road Warrior 1981 (Mad Max 2)
• The Running Man
• Serenity
• Silent Running
• Soylent Green
• Stagecoach, 1939
• Star Trek: First Contact, 1996
• The Stand (TV series), 1994 by Stephen King, starring Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe
• Swiss Family Robinson, 1960, based on 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy, 2006, 2009 film with Viggo Mortensen
• The Terminator frachise, 1984, 1991, 2003, 2007, 2009
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
• Terminator Salvation
• Terminator Genisys
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• THX 1138
• The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
• The Tribe, 1999-2003
• Total Recall
• V for Vendetta
• The Walking Dead, 2010-2015
• WALL-E
• Watchmen
• World War Z, 2006 by Max Brooks, 2013 film with Brad Pitt
• X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014

See Also

• Utopia, the flipside of Dystopia.
• Big government Welfare state leads to Nanny state, leads to Police state
• Liberal totalitarianism