Is Dystopia Inevitable?

No. Every generation says something like that. The near future will be pretty similar to the present. With cooler stuff.

 

^^ yep that's pretty much it.

I used to think things were getting worse when I was a teenager but science is getting more sophisticated and civil liberties, including gay rights, are growing. Being gay still counted as a mental illness according to the world Heath organisation til about 1990!

So things are very slowly getting better, then a little bit worse, then better

 

Cant have the sweet without the sour.

 

Thing is, after the Industrial revolution things got better. After the Great Depression, things got better. All of those bad things you mentioned have also resulted in a massive upswing in civil disobedience, a growingly politically conscious electorate, new media facilitating greater transparency in what's going on in our politics, and the gradual development of communities and networks to help alleviate the damaging effects of rampant economic inequality. Things are really bad right now, but if the things I mentioned continue to go forward and are ultimately successful, things will get better.

 

I agree with several above posters. Bad times will come. But they will always be followed by redemption.

Except of course for the bad time that ends up too bad. There will be no coming back from that. *cough* The Matrix *ahem*

 

Of course, a second American civil war is a very real possibility at this point.

 

Rome fell!!!!!!!!!!