CYBERPUNK Thoughts
When I was in college, I was introduced to a genre of literature, Cyberpunk. The whole idea of Cyberpunk had been kicking around since the ‘60’s, but I was more immersed in some of the classics (nerd though I am, my favorite being Moby Dick) or mystery fiction. I did pick up some Asimov (Caves of Steel series being my favorite, which combined mystery and science fiction…long before MST(3K) was even around. I guess for my generation, Blade Runner was the most widespread venue which the genre was provided to the populace, despite it being based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Andrioids Dream of Electric Sheep ?
That being said, when I was in college, I did pick up a copy of R. Talsorian Games’ Cyberpunk 2020 (I think it’s kicking around somewhere in the attic), which I felt based alot of its concepts on the works of William Gibson (Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Burning Chrome, and Virtual Light) . It should be noted that in the 1990’s a widely panned movie starring Keanu Reeves, Johnny Mnemonic was based on a short story out of Burning Chrome (read it - seriously- the book is better than the movie). I think, given that CD Project is releasing the videogame Cyberpunk 2077 based on the RPG, and in the given light of current world events, it may be time to explore concepts of the genre.
The world of Cyberpunk is derived by a couple of concepts:
Society is dystopian, that means that there is great suffering or injustice within the society being depicted. This is a different view of the majority of science fiction writers which placed society as a utopia in the future.
There is an inequality among the classes, usually depicted as the “haves” and '“have nots”. Some authors explore the upheaval/breakdown at the fringes of the classes.
Irrespective of the social class or social order, technological advances are available to all if you have the money or can steal the item/get it off the black market.
Drug culture is rampant. These could be “beneficial drugs” or representative of the addiction/destructive drugs (albeit, you can be just as addicted to the beneficial ones…something that authors do explore). Religion sometimes plays a surrogate or related role in this concept, Karl Marx’s comments aside (see the full context of “Religion being the opiate for the masses” here),
In my interpretation of the genre, the stories take on great action sequences and requires the reader to take a giant leap of reality. What I find fascinating, and fearful, as I read about the “woke culture” is how more Cyberpunk we are becoming. The current perception of inequality regarding US society and policing, the technological equality among all sides (looking at social media, the medical technology regarding gender realignment and policies governing societal impact), the perception that the government is weak in the influence of companies, the legalization of marijuana. All these things point to the growth of the Cyberpunk movement, irrespective of peoples’ political view.
A relevant example of what I am talking about here is given in William Gibson’s Virtual Light pertaining to the emergence of an autonomous zone established on the e San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge . What Gibson provides the reader is a history of the zone from the point of view of the protagonist, Chevette. Sometime in the early 2000’s, there was an earthquake and the bridge became unusable by traffic due to safety concerns and was isolated. Due to the rampant homelessness in the San Fransisco area, the homeless took over the bridge and established a camp of sorts, which had expanded to the length and height of the bridge. Built upon the wiring, girders, and street out of plywood, adhesive, and sometimes (when available) metal, thousands of people occupy the bridge and make a living out of trade among themselves and non-bridge people. They mayor and police basically gave up on trying to evict the people, and after years they remained long enough to raise families of their own.
My interpretation is this is a parallel for what was intended with the establishment of Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP); to identify with the plight of African Americans (I’m not trying to detract from this), set up a zone that is self-governed and, ultimately, self-sufficient at the discomfort of the masses. True to the Cyberpunk culture, the perception that the government is withholding information plays into the drama around CHOP where the leadership is pointing fingers at each other on who ordered the evacuation of the government buildings.
On Gibson’s bridge, there is no police. There is no safety codes. So when a structure (with people in it) gets blown off the bridge. That’s it; nobody is there to pick up the pieces. When a fire breaks out, the protection of property is not the society’s problem…unless it is interfering with an individual’s own livelihood and threatens themselves; that’s when individuals react. From an institution perspective, none of the baseline protections exist. It’s every man for themselves.
Utopia, right?
Basic resources that are used on the bridge are an exception - San Fran pays for that. The bridge people tapped the city’s electric, stealing from those who they rejected. And I perceive that is the basic problem with the concept of an autonomous zone. Sure, emergency services are a must, and it has been proven (now) that a criminal element within the mix will quickly degrade the message trying to be put out by CHOP organizers.
An autonomous area cannot be a biosphere without energy and resources provided from the outside. Even brine shrimp within a self-contained environment require sunlight to cause the photosynthesis to cause plants to provide food and filter the water. The people of Seattle are providing the resources in this case.
Five Miles Downrange:
Ultimately, the idea that the future of a society is autonomous is as frightening as any horror movie I can think of. There is a kind of loneliness, yet hypocrisy, in a society in which people look out only for themselves, yet maintains that the resources for the basics be paid for by all. This communal ideal is alien to my understanding. The silence of those opposed by the media is frightening. It’s almost like a reverse 1984, where society (not the government) is imposing the rules, changing history, creating disinformation.
Grab your mirrorshades, Cyberpunk is upon us. And only 27 years early !
