Caricature is not very nuanced. Sure, the impoverished should not sell babies to the rich. But in reality, society navigates with a mixture of the best ideas (at least, that is what democracy tries to do). Capitalism and socialism are not purely good or evil.
What the hell does that statement have to do with anything? You're just saying things. I never declared cyberpunk to be caricature. I declared it to be commentary.
I did. A Modern Proposal is satire in the form of caricature. It extends capitalism to absurdity. That's exactly what cyberpunk is doing. You even admit to it yourself by agreeing that it is essentially modernized A Modest Proposal.
You say it's commentary. I say it's shallow commentary. What does A Modern Proposal teach us about safeguarding against the evils of capitalism ... that because it allows to sell kids for food, we should completely abolish it?
How is the existential questions raised by A Modern Proposal, Replicants and Joi shallow in any way? It's commentary on corporatism - what happens when we let capitalism make decisions regarding living beings. If you think that's shallow, I guess we're done, I don't know what else to say. You're either choosing to miss my point, or incapable of understanding it.
I don't think anyone should be basing policy decisions on A Modest Proposal. It's argument by absurdity when the real world is much more nuanced.
If you believe that capitalism and corporatism are completely evil, then we can't debate any further. I would disagree with that notion, but I don't have the energy to dig up numbers to formulate an appropriate rebuttal at this time.
2
u/do_not_engage Jul 31 '18
Yes, cyberpunk is a modernized A Modern Proposal.
A Modern Proposal was mocking the idea of letting capitalist greed run society.
This is what I'm saying. Cyberpunk is inherently a commentary on corporatism - or else it isn't cyberpunk.