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While we may imagine a dystopian future of thought police, killer robots, and nuclear fallout, the real future predictions are much more boring. Instead of being brutally brainwashed and enslaved by fascist, authoritarian regimes, we have willingly enslaved ourselves. By allowing the top 1% to get exponentially richer, we drown in a sea of debts, tech, advertising, endless wars, environmental destruction, addictions, depression... the list goes on.

Brilliant, isn't it? But it's ok; there's always Facebook to scroll through (Bored Panda too, obvs), Netflix to watch, chemical-laden meals to consume, manufactured outrages over a mermaid's skin color to comment on. Who's got time for thoughtful resistance in this sick, sad world? Even those that think they are resisting by electing bigoted billionaires, bankers and Eton toffs to represent them are simply playing into their hands, as their dishonest, scaremongering claptrap divides us ever further over political, racial and gender lines!

Sometimes we need to take a step back and see the forest for the trees. This list, compiled by Bored Panda, contains some pretty terrifying examples of present-day dystopian society, things that make you realize that beyond all the distractions of trying to survive and thrive in the rat race, something's not quite right with this world.

So if you didn't find the sinister scenes of mindless automatons chanting “send her back” chilling enough, scroll down below to get a reality check on the spookily Orwellian society we are allowing to be constructed, and let's see if we can fix our near future in the comments! If you want to see even more proof of our dystopian world, be sure to check out our previous list!

The term 'boring dystopia was coined by the late academic and cultural theorist Mark Fisher in 2015. He used it to refer to the "bland, mildly coercive signs that abound in late-stage capitalist society, which foster a vague sense of isolation or unease."

He started a Facebook group that documented these signs as a way to develop consciousness about the world around us. "It was understood from the start to be a consciousness-raising exercise, encouraging people to perceive the actual state of Britain rather than the PR state," Fisher said in an interview with Vice. "Which is surprisingly hard, because there's this mixture of Silicon Valley ideology, PR and advertising which distracts us from our own aesthetic poverty, and the reality of what we have. Which is just all these crap robots…"

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    "Boring Dystopia was partly about the fact that no one can care about stuff any more," said Fisher. "It's not that they don't care, but in a city like London, or any intensely pressured urban metropolis—add to that the pressures of capitalist cyberspace and people just feel like they perpetually have no time."

    "Our resources for caring are depleted, and that has aesthetic consequences."

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    Put The Blame Where It Belongs

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    Kathie Leonetti
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Let's not forget the politicians and celebrities who fly all over who have huge SUVs .

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    The Facebook group was short-lived, with Fisher quickly becoming disillusioned with Facebook itself. "For me the point at which the group started to go downhill was when it became like every other Facebook group. It was just recirculating 'content' and sending links, keeping people inside what I would call capitalist cyberspace instead of looking outside at their own environment. It felt like it was reinforcing the condition it was intended to displace," he explained.

    "It didn't work at that scale, and you could feel that it wasn't the right place for it… It was just an experiment, and Facebook probably wasn't the right platform. I didn't want it to be diluted."

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    #6

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    Calling An Ambulance In USA

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    giovanna
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That is just RIDICULOUS. I really, honestly don't understand how come the American people are not crazy mad in the streets protesting about that. Like, protesting all the time.

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    After Fisher's tragic death in 2017 at the age of 48, his work remains as his legacy and is as important and relevant as it's ever been. His 2009 book Capitalist Realism is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the modern world, and his 'Boring Dystopia' group lives on mainly in the subreddit r/ABoringDystopia.

    What do you think? Are we truly living in a boring dystopia? Scroll down below to see the rest of the examples for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!

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    #9

    Need Books? Donate Plasma!

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    Bill
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You are supposed to sell plasma for beer at that age. This isn't right

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    #10

    I Had To Pay $39.35 To Hold My Baby After He Was Born

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    #11

    Anything Different Would Simply Be Un-American

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    Beverly
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There is one thing we can do: Get out and vote. Vote for the senators and representatives who aren't afraid to push for single-payer, universal health care. And if someone calls you a socialist, tell them to look at Japan, which a) is hardly socialist, b) has the world's longest life expectancy, and c) has a well-established universal health care system.

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    #12

    Health Care

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    Tamara Neimet
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Don't have to wait for it. Come to Ukraine, we are constantly crowdfunding some sick child's care.

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    #13

    Watch This Advert Or Choke To Death

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    María Hermida
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you need to watch a video before trying to do something to help, it doesn't matter whether there are ads or not; the person will probably die anyway. That's the reason why everybody should learn some very basic first aid skills, like the Hemilich Maneuver, at school, instead of soooo much useless rubbish.

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    #14

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    nanashi
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I always wonder why they made it that it's the customer's job to make sure if the workers/servers are paid or not. does this system works?

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    #15

    Public Relations

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    Miklós Nagy
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And people working in the media industry earn way more than any manual laborer or most of the engineers, scientists, medical doctors...

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    #17

    "Today My Client Was Excited To Push The Elevator Buttons On The Way To Her First Deportation Hearing"

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    Koalamonster
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My niece is 5. I cannot imagine her having to represent herself in any legal matters. I'm 30, and I can't imagine representing myself in any legal matters.

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    #18

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    Anne
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well.. we are too far in killing bees and the environment.. so.. we will need to do both at the same time. There is no planet B.

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    #19

    Capitalism In A Nutshell

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    Daniel Morgan
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And yet Trump has the audacity to say how amazing the country is doing and how everyone is wealthier than ever. Prick.

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    #21

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    Wil Vanderheijden
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The blindfold of Lady Justice is eaten by the moths and she turns out to be a racist, conservative b!tch.

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    Not A Bad Plan

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    Koalamonster
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I knew a girl who got Hep C from her ex-boyfriend. Her insurance would not pay to fix it unless she was very very ill. As far as I know she still has it. Had she gone to jail she would have been treated and it wouldn't be an issue anymore.

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    Luis Milian
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    in the US, the cost for an ambulance to take you to the ER is as expensive as buying a new car.

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    Care
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hope they're doing better now. Debt definitely doesn't help depression.

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    #30

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    Miklós Nagy
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The 90s when people were angry about their well paid, stable jobs and about their peaceful life...

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    Note: this post originally had 62 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.