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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|'''Not Invented Here:''' ''Trade of technology will not exist. One place in the world will have all the techno-gadgets while all the others will be harvesting dirt.''
A large-scale form of [[Schizo-Tech]].
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See also: [[Crystal Spires and Togas]], [[Advanced Ancient Acropolis]] and [[Ludd Was Right]]. Compare [[Low Culture, High Tech]], where a backwards culture uses technology it doesn't understand.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* In ''Windaria'', the coastal city-state of Itha runs on windmills and admittedly sophisticated dams and waterwheels, and its military has hot-air balloons, crossbows, Molotov cocktails, and some kind of unarmoured hovercraft. The nearby mountain kingdom of Paro is a dieselpunk dystopia with monoplanes, assault rifles, and tanks. Somehow they fight a war on equal terms.
* In ''[[Kino's Journey]]'', cities are separated by great distances and form separate countries. Also, travel is dangerous and most people never leave their hometowns. Thus, there are vast differences in technology and culture between cities, which vary from medieval to futuristic in nature. This is made even stranger by the [[Schizo-Tech|eclectic technology]].
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* Gotham city and Metropolis both reflect the style of their hero: Dark for [[Batman]] and shiny and optimistic for [[Superman]]. A common saying about the two cities within DC was that Metropolis was [[Big Applesauce|New York City]] in the daytime, while Gotham was New York at night. The Animated Series for both [[Batman: The Animated Series|these]] [[Superman: The Animated Series|shows]] even cross over, however Superman ended up visiting Batman at night (and Bats usually took the night with him to Metropolis).
** Mind you, there is some overlap. For instance, Metropolis has a rough area called Suicide Slum where a few street level superheroes keep themselves busy with small time crooks.
** Gotham also contains
*** In [[Batman: The Animated Series]], this was deliberately done to make the time period of the show difficult to pin down (and to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|get real guns past the censors]]).
* Gyro Gearloose makes this possible in the Scrooge McDuck universe. The comics are set in a vague, 1960s-esque world, but the [[Mad Scientist]] is able to bring any and all technology that would otherwise not be available for the stories.
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==
* In ''[[Aeon Natum Engel]]'' due to many circumstances, the defenses and general technology level of the Order-controlled Iceland consists mostly from the stuff dating back to the first Arcanotech War, when the fic takes places during the Aeon War, which itself was formerly known as a Second Arcanotech War.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[Oryx and Crake]]'' (by [[Margaret Atwood]]) is set somewhere late in the 21st century, and shows present day trends of inequality taken to the extreme. The privileged few live in gated communities in comfortable settings, the majority live in the "Pleeb Lands" which are disadvantaged, violent (or at least perceived by the privileged as such), drug fueled and dependent on mass-produced technology that trickles down from the upper echelon.
* In ''[[
* Invoked deliberately in ''[[The Ear, the Eye and the
* In ''[[Time Scout]]''{{'}}s depiction of [[Victorian London]]
* In [[The Pendragon Adventures]], the Milago and Bedoowan live within spitting distance of each other: the Milago live in small huts and shit in holes in the ground, while the Bedoowan castle has running water and uses naturally glowing stones to provide artificial light.
* ''[[Wheel of Time]]'': implied in in Towers of Midnight, in
== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Buck Rogers in
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* The [[BattleTech]] universe applies this concept across a couple hundred worlds, with technological and industrial infrastructure destroyed by massive wars. Major worlds enjoy the use of starships, giant robots, cybernetics, faster-than-light communications, and worldwide computer networking, while many other planets fell to 19th-century lifestyles, with a starport or two and a FTL communications array somewhere on the planet so they aren't totally cut off.
** ''[[Traveller]]'' does this too, but as an analogy of the [[Truth in Television]] example above: the low-tech worlds still have access to more advanced technology, but the local industrial base isn't equipped to produce it so it has to be imported at extra cost. It's a similar situation in ''[[Firefly]]'', which [[Word of God|was not]] inspired by ''[[Traveller]]'' but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was.
** In ''[[Warhammer
*** They actually stated in one ''White Dwarf'' that they'd created a fictional universe where you can have rock-waving barbarians and antigravity tanks on the same battlefield.
* ''[[Ravenloft]]'' can be bad for this, with domains ranging from the Classical Era to Psuedo-Victorian era. Granted it makes more sense when you realize each domain is snatched up from a different world, and some of the [[Dark Lord
** The Hollow World CD&D setting has a similar patchwork feel to it, for pretty much the same reason: it was designed by the Immortals to preserve favorite cultures which were dying out on the planet's surface, and they used really powerful magic to make sure these cultures [[Status Quo Is God|would neither mix nor change]].
* There's plenty of this in ''[[Rifts]]'', where a rural community with no technology to speak of ([[Schizo-Tech|save for a laser rifle or two gotten from somewhere else]]) can be less than 50 miles away from a large city full of people with mass communication, hover vehicles, [[Giant Mecha|giant robots]], and other futuristic gear. Not to mention communities built on magic. The "no tech sharing" angle is implicit with the Coalition States; they use their superior technology to lure in other communities, either through force, coercion, or more subtle methods. But it doesn't explain why benevolent places like Lazlo aren't sharing the wealth.
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*** Amish acceptance of technology is based on the effect it has on their community, particularly if the device would prevent them from being self-sufficient. Running a compressor using purchased fuel and using air power (aka "Amish Electricity") for appliances is fine, but paying a monthly bill for electricity is not. Some tech like solar panels and pay-as-you-go cell phones are accepted on these grounds, while many Amish are happy to pay for a ride to work in a car.
** Another rather blatant example is the differences between South Korea and its neighbor North Korea. North Korea is sandwiched between South Korea and China, two industrial nations with healthy economies. In comparison, North Korea has literally zero electricity usage and infrastructure, and outside the capital, you'll only find farmland and military bases. To put things in perspective, [http://tizona.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/north-korea-is-dark.jpg this is what North Korea looks like at night compared to its wealthier neighbors].
* [http://www.snopes.com/photos/architecture/detroit.asp This] image of Makati,
* [[Inverted Trope|Inversion]] along the US-Mexico border; the US side is mostly barren while the Mexican side will have development. Played straight in some places, outright averted in others. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120418231918/http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/notitas-de-noticias/details/a-view-of-the-us-mexican-border/13612/ In this picture, right side is Mexico.]
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Video Game Settings]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:Decade Dissonance]]▼
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
[[Category:Dissonance Tropes]]
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