News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America. Parent comment

Re:Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by komali2 on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @04:41PM (#15502810)
My friends and I argue about this all the time - does the world go the way of Star Trek, or Blade Runner? "The Culture Series," or "Snow Crash?"

I think dystopic cyberpunk universes are unsustainable - I don't get how you can cram hundreds of millions of under-classed people into what are essentially poverty ghettos without a total outright revolution, or just an apocalypse event that resets the technological scale or eradicates the human race. My perspective is that improvements in automation will lead to inevitably a realization that "working for food" is a dated concept that will go away. Hopeful, sure, but it's that or death in my opinion.

To see a business betting on the other end-game... that's harrowing.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by jackbravo on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @05:06PM (#15503103)
But that's how it has been for years, at least on third world countries. I live in Mexico and we know that the big companies here have been betting on that end-game since last century =P. The two biggest and most influential companies in Mexico: Telmex (from Carlos Slim) and Televisa are known to cater to the low income audience. Televisa's owner, in 1993 said that they made TV programs for "jodidos" (slur for poor people)[1].

[1] http://www.proceso.com.mx/336733/television-para-jodidos

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by princeb on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @09:46PM (#15504841)
> I don't get how you can cram hundreds of millions of under-classed people into what are essentially poverty ghettos without a total outright revolution

a number of these universes seem inspired by a real life city... Hong Kong.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by orf on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @04:52PM (#15502936)
> I don't get how you can cram hundreds of millions of under-classed people into what are essentially poverty ghettos without a total outright revolution

China seems to be giving it a pretty good go

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dollar General Hits a Gold Mine in Rural America by ryandrake on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @06:17PM (#15503736)
> I don't get how you can cram hundreds of millions of under-classed people into what are essentially poverty ghettos without a total outright revolution

Distract them Facebook and reality TV.

[ Parent | on HN ]