The list of environmentalists’ dystopias has been enriched with a new one. Although it is not a classical post-apocalyptic vision…
Do you like Zamyatin’s We, Huxley’s Brave New World, or Orwell’s 1984? Well, if the answer is yes, I have another tip for your bookcase. The novel “My diary from 2091” by Czech author Eduard Petiška, Jr. appeared on Amazon just a few days ago. The author uses his alter-ego as the main character in the book. He has moved to the future in the year 2091 and describes the state of the World. And it is a simple and powerful story.
The book is really user-friendly. The author provides a good introduction in the preface and in the timeline of the important moments of the twenty-first century and further in the news article from selected years of the century. After that, he starts with diary entries and describes his life – first in Prague and then in New York and Sri Lanka.
In the diary, Petiska describes the future World as the “green totality” which is run by artificial intelligence algorithms known as the Big Expert, which advise people on what to do to live sustainably. The Expert tells people what to eat, how to live or encourages older people to undergo euthanasia. All this in the name of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and protecting the environment. The dominance of the Expert over freedom was symbolically completed with the demolition of the Statue of Liberty in New York and the erection of the Statue of the Great Advisor in its place.
Eventually, the main protagonist leaves New York and a totalitarian world and moves to Sri Lanka, the only state which is not part of the World Union. Here he experiences disillusionment and understands that he lived in totality. So he decides to return and change it. And well, because we are in a dystopia, you cannot wait for the happy end. You can read it for yourself; the book is free for several days because of Amazon Free Book Promotions. Personally, I rate My diary from 2091 as one of the best dystopias of the twenty-first century.
Important moments of the 21st century (according to the author:)
- 2001 Attack on the World Trade Center, the beginning of the War on Terror and the first phases of curbing human freedom for fear of terrorism.
- 2008 Beginning of the World Financial Crisis which led to closer regulation of the market economy and society.
- 2015 The DEEP Mind program beats a champion of the game of Go and sets off a new stage in the development of artificial intelligence.
- 2020-2021 The global coronavirus pandemic shows just how easy it is to limit human freedom and inspires future totalitarian attempts at control in the name of environmental protection and greenhouse gas reduction.
- 2024 International research shows that a majority of people would prefer to be managed by algorithms rather than politicians.
- 2030 The United Nations launches the Sustainable World program whose goal is to curb further development of civilization in order to protect the environment.
- 2045 The World Union organization is formed.
- 2055 The company Omnipotentia unveils their artificial intelligence algorithms known as Big Expert.
- 2058 The world population reaches 10 billion, which leads to efforts at curbing the world’s population for the sake of the environment. Since then, anyone who wishes to have a child must buy the necessary permit.
- 2065 The first research colony is founded on Mars. The Mars Colonization program is established.
- 2070 Research shows that Big Expert has a more accurate judgment than humans.
- 2075 The termination of all space flights and the dismantling of Mars Colonization for fear of their effects on climate change.
- 2080 Survey shows that the majority of people almost never make their own decisions but listen to Big Expert who basically makes their decisions for them.
- 2090 The World Union starts using Big Expert’s algorithms for managing and controlling society in the name of sustainability and environmental protection.
