5 signs we’re Living in a Cyberpunkworld
Forget science fiction. It’s already reality!
On January 20, 2025, as I sat watching Donald J. Trump become our president… yet again, what caught my eye wasn’t Melania’s hat — although I will admit, the hat certainly did look like one of those flying objects over New Jersey. Who knows, maybe it is….
Anyway, you may have noticed sitting prominently near all the President’s men were some interesting familiar faces. Curious, I leaned in for closer look….
One little, two little, three little billionaire, four little, five little, six and congrats! You’ve won the grand prize! Johnny, tell the American people what they’re taking home…
Hold onto to your hats, folks! This is not these United States any more!
No sirree!
Welcome to the land of the United States of Apple, Amazon and Tesla !
We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore….Oopps! Sorry that state has been bought out by the Chinese! But I hear Greenland is still available. 😁
Ladies and gents, you’ve guessed it! We’re living in a cyberpunk world… 80’s techno music please!
You saw them too…
Bezo, Zuckerberg, Musk and Cook…Oh My!
Then there were the Arnaults, Ambani and the Tik Tok CEO. Man, if anyone is looking for some start up money for their next tech venture. This be the place to hit!
What’s the big D-O you ask? Billionaires and politics. What’s new?
Well nothing and everything.
Once upon a time, politicians wanted to keep their big $$$money$$$ Friends a secret. They were their ‘hustle on the side” their ‘Saturday Night Sally.” But hide no more.
They’re tired of pretending they don’t know each other at parties or not being able to spend holidays together. All this sneaking around is too exhausting.
Either tell people we’re together or it’s over! (TMZ can’t wait to catch you cheating!)
All this relationship drama talk brings us to…
The first sign that indicates we’re living in a cyberpunk world: Big Corporations having just as much power if not more than governments
When you have companies like Apple (AAPL) for example, (not to beat up on everyone’s favorite fruit) As of Jan 2025 its market cap is about 3.458 trillion dollars. To give you some perspective. Only 6 countries on the planet (USA, China, UK, Japan, Germany and India) have a GDP larger than that number.
Apple alone contributes an estimated 2 trillion dollars to the United States’s GDP or 10% (For comparison- the world’s 3rd largest economy-France; Their entire stock exchange is worth about 4.5 Trillion from 795 companies combined. With Apple we’re talking about just one.)
You say “So Apple is successful. Why are you going after a company for being successful?”
Hold on there, Nellie. Put down your kool aid for a moment and hear me out.
When you got a corporation/industry like Big Tech making up so much of a country’s financial well being. You risk developing a big toxic Bennifer co-dependency aka The Twilight Saga style relationship. Hello, possessive vampire boyfriend who glows in the sun much?
Case in point. Republic of South Korea where the MEGA CORPS have become the country.
Gather around kids. It’s story time…
Once upon a time in the land of K-pop and K-drama there were 4 family-run companies (Samsung, SK, LG and Hyundai). They became so successful that their earnings make up nearly 41% of the country’s GDP.
One day some of the workers of these companies got the nerve to demand better working conditions and higher wages… Who do these people think they are? Norma Rae. They want a $1.75 raise? They should be grateful they even have a job…peasant. We pay workers $10 an hour to make a phone that cost $558 but sells for $1,499. Why? Because who is going to pay for my $300 million dollar yacht? And you don’t expect me to fly commercial with all you…people. Don’t you know who I am?
When MEGA CORPS ignored their requests and demands. The workers said “I’m going to call my congressman. They will listen.”
But it was too late. The MEGA CORPS had already called the congressman with “I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse” and say “hello to my little friend”. In the end the workers put their mattresses away and into the void they go! And the MEGA CORPS lived happily ever after.
The End!
Imagine, there’s no workers right, It’s easy if you try. All hell is around us. Above us only MEGA CORPS. Imagine all the people, barely alive today…ah
When Evil CORPS sorry typo… MEGA CORPS wins. It’s not the poor people that lose. Nope, they’re not even in the game.
MEGA CORPS rich don’t go after the poor. Come on, what kind of people do you think they are? No, they go after the next one above the poor. The middle class.
The 2nd sign that indicates we’re definitely living in a cyberpunk world: slow-agonizing death of the middle class
You see boys and girls. The hard working, law abiding citizens who pay majority of the country’s taxes a.k.a the middle class. They get paid just enough not to be homeless but not enough to be rich; I mean we can’t all fly private. Politicians ignore them-except for election season-then they get lip service.
Then they should protest, you say.
Don’t know if you notice but middle class people don’t have time to be marching or occupying wall street or whatever. They’re too busy working, paying their bills, picking their kids up from school then taking them to soccer; then going home to cook dinner then do a load or two of laundry. Maybe watch a little TV before crashing and repeating the next day.
But if they did have some time to catch their breath. The would say this…
They’ve seen their cost of living go up but not their wages. They see the company they’ve worked at for 17 years suddenly get bought up by a MEGA CORP and poof! All the jobs go bye bye to some 3rd world country that no one can find on a map. All the while the CEOs and management pat themselves on the back for a job well done with big bonuses and golden parachutes.
If they do complain to their elected officials they get the “we’re looking into it” which is Washington speak for “don’t care because the middle class don’t donate enough to my re-election fund”
You’ve notice the enormous popularity of dramas like Squid Games and the Oscar winning movie Parasite is not about the have and have nots. (Interestingly, both are from Korea) It’s about how the middle class is working harder, longer and at the end of the day they have nothing left. Worse, they have to borrow just to stay afloat.
So it seems, the more sophisticated the technology becomes. The lower the quality of life it gets for the human being.
You get it. This leads us to…
The 3rd sign that we’re living in a cyberpunk world. High Tech and low life.
The term first coined by writer Bruce Sterling. He describes how in the future we’ll all be living in this unimaginable beautiful high tech “utopia” where the lines between man and his machines are blurred. But will this make us happier as a species or does it just serve as a digital prison; where high tech gadgets become a surveillance tool and comforts become a way for MEGA CORPS to keep us in line? All the while making only a tiny fraction of the few rich. Ask yourself. Are you happier now than you were 5 years ago? Most people are not.
But not to worry. MEGA CORPS won’t let us get too depressed. They’ll keep us doped up on pharmaceuticals and mind numb on endless loop of Netflix. Are you not entertained?
Then while you’re completely immersed in your virtual orgy. MEGA CORPS is busying building your replacement.
You guessed it. Sign number 4.
The 4th sign that indicates we’re definitely living in a cyberpunk world. The merging of human and machines.
It’s already begun. Already we can’t part from our phones and our electronic devices. The next phase will be to have them implanted in our bodies for our “safety”….want a refill on your kool aid?
Soon they’ll be making work-bots indistinguishable from humans. Actually they’ll be better than humans. I predict in a few decades work-bots will become more valueable than a human being. Think about it. They’ll work 24/7 for no pay, no insurance and no asking for $1.75 pay increase or calling out because their sitter is late. Excuses, excuses.
Tik Tok human. Your time’s up.
The 5th sign that indicates we’re already living in a cyberpunk world. The slow extinction of human Beings.
They’re coming for us. Sooner than later. These machine children we’ve created.
People say you’re a fear monger. But seriously, look at the people who are building and writing the codes for these robots. These are the same people who start wars so that they can make money selling the weapons that kill human beings. Lovely isn’t it?
Remember the weapons of mass destruction that was never found for the Iraq War 2.0? But that didn’t stop companies like Halliburton, Blackwater and Paladin from raking in billions. Just google these companies and see how many government or former government officials are either board members or are connected to these companies.
So you can bet when A.I. comes into play. It’ll be the same script.
Money. Greed and power. Repeat.
