Terminally Dependent Society: Difference between revisions

Line 50:

* In the short story "[http://web.archive.org/web/20070810183849/http://www.twinoaks.org/members-exmembers/exmembers/center/omelas.html The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas]" by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], the prosperity of the titular city is dependent on [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|treating some poor kid like crap]]. If the child's suffering was ever alleviated, all of Omelas would suffer instead. Every citizen of Omelas is made aware of this terrible price. Most of them rationalize it away as something necessary for the greater good and live their lives to the fullest knowing the cost. And then there are those who decide it isn't worth it, and walk away from Omelas.

* Scott Westerfeld's [[Uglies]] takes place in a future where our current society has been destroyed due to a plague that burns up all our oil. The future society thus tries to avoid this trope, making sure to carefully manage their use of natural resources, only to {{spoiler|be overthrown in the end}} since, as David [[Lampshades]], they were dependent on a mandatory operation that made everyone beautiful and {{spoiler|stopped people from thinking for themselves and wanting things. People who wanted to think for themselves did not like this and found a way to reverse that part of the operation.}}

* [[Derek Gunn]]'s [[Vampire Apocalypse ~~the Series~~]] has vampires relating to human beings this way. It's also a metaphor for humanity's relationship with oil, which resulted in the whole situation.

* [[Derek Gunn]]'s [[Vampire Apocalypse]] has vampires relating to human beings this way. It's also a metaphor for humanity's relationship with oil, which resulted in the whole situation.

* The [[Novels of the Change]] show that humanity in [[The Nineties]] (let alone our time) would undergo [[The End of the World as We Know It]] without trucking and tractors (other linchpins knocked out by said [[Alien Space Bats|Change]] include electricity, explosives and steam power, but internal combustion is the most immediately lethal one).

* Food might seem like a slightly obvious one to mention, but [[Discworld|Ankh Morpork]] is apparently only a few meals from going hungry even at the best of times.

Line 64:

** 3) The Battlestar Galactica itself; from the water filtration system that according to Commander Adama doesn't waste so much as a drop of water while cleaning a ship's supply of water to the ship's DRADIS that allows early warning of Cylon attacks or it's squadrons of Vipers and it's powerful weapon systems or the simple fact that none of the surviving civilian leaders are smart enough to keep the fleet together without Adama. This is proven early in Season 2 when the fleet is divided and the civilian fleet that left Galactica is prone to suicidal plans as dictated by their civilian leaders.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has a fondness for this trope in its various series.

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "[[Star Trek/Recap/S3/E01 ~~Spocks~~ Brain|Spock's Brain]]". An underground civilization is coordinated by a [[Brain In a Jar|humanoid brain]] called the Controller. When it fails, the inhabitants go looking for a replacement and acquire the title object.

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "[[Star Trek/Recap/S3/E01 Spock's Brain|Spock's Brain]]". An underground civilization is coordinated by a [[Brain In a Jar|humanoid brain]] called the Controller. When it fails, the inhabitants go looking for a replacement and acquire the title object.

** TOS adored this trope, especially combined with [[Master Computer]]. Cue the James T. Kirk patented [[Logic Bomb]]!

** ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' had a society dependent on cloning run into [[Clone Degeneration]]. They were forced to do it the old fashioned way with a neighboring society of Luddites.

Line 82:

* In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', Drow culture is dependent on magical radiations so that cities were born and died when such deposits appeared and disappeared. Averted with vengeance in Sshamath, which managed to cross the deficiency period and emerge even stronger, having usual cheap solutions replaced with true arcane magic. This made it dependent on wizardry.

** Most cities of Netheril were placed on artificial levitating islands. And when all magic was disabled for a minute or two... Since then, the relevant deity turns magic off "for maintenance" every few centuries, so no long-lasting civilization dares to depend on it ''that'' much.

* In ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~]]'' the Imperium ''needs'' the Emperor to stay alive. He is using his psychic might to keep a hole in reality closed (that if allowed open would destroy the solar system, which is vital to the Imperium). He also plays a role in at least some psykers getting sanctioned, making them more powerful and giving them a little resistance against demonic possession. The Imperium depends on psykers he sanctions for faster than light communication. He also fights the chaos gods on their own turf. But most importantly he, he psychically calibrates the astromicon (which is pretty close to that hole in reality). The Imperium depends on the astromicon to make [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|interstellar travel]] safe and reliable enough to be viable. In addition he is on a life support system called the Golden Throne, and its beginning to no longer work, and nobody save for the Emperor even knows how it works. Some fans actually think that if the Emperor dies: his spirit will continue to protect the Imperium from within the Warp, or be reincarnated. They almost always claim that he would do a better job of protecting the Imperium if he died.

* In ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' the Imperium ''needs'' the Emperor to stay alive. He is using his psychic might to keep a hole in reality closed (that if allowed open would destroy the solar system, which is vital to the Imperium). He also plays a role in at least some psykers getting sanctioned, making them more powerful and giving them a little resistance against demonic possession. The Imperium depends on psykers he sanctions for faster than light communication. He also fights the chaos gods on their own turf. But most importantly he, he psychically calibrates the astromicon (which is pretty close to that hole in reality). The Imperium depends on the astromicon to make [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|interstellar travel]] safe and reliable enough to be viable. In addition he is on a life support system called the Golden Throne, and its beginning to no longer work, and nobody save for the Emperor even knows how it works. Some fans actually think that if the Emperor dies: his spirit will continue to protect the Imperium from within the Warp, or be reincarnated. They almost always claim that he would do a better job of protecting the Imperium if he died.

== Videogames ==

Line 139:

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Television]]

[[Category:~~Terminally Dependent Society~~]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]