A dystopic future

I suspect that much of what is happening now,

and what is coming, would already be considered

dystopic by some of our progenitors.

There will never be adequate sharing of wealth,

and so - as in bygone ages -

a few live high, many live very low,

and the remainder are scattered in-between.

The circumstances of those living desperate and deprived lives is possibly becoming worse in many ways. For example, the African, or South American, or Asian villager had land and village life to fall back on. Increasingly that land is owned by huge and often multinational enterprises, and there is nowhere for them to go. In the past, the Aboriginals on several continents were able to freely wander and hunt as they chose. Now there are fences and guards, and even national boundaries, and the game they hunted is not only scarce but even endangered.

For those living high on the hog, conditions have always been wonderful. On a smaller scale, one is reminded of the sign that should appear somewhere just north of Watford on the M1, to be seen when driving into the capital from the north, saying something like "Depression/Recession Ends. Apologies for Any Inconvenience".

The Middle Ages villager would be horrified to find no common land to graze their few animals. Instead they would find themselves on meagre pickings of a grudging payment of some sort of inadequate social support. Their previous comforts of religion and the certainty of the social pact with their liege lord would be gone. Today's working poor know very well that the toffs could not be further from being interested in their welfare to any extent other than to ensure that they and their children are not underfoot and not close enough to catch something from.

Yes indeed, a few people's bright new world may well be most people's dystopic future.