Dystopia

A dystopia at the highest level is a civilization that is undesirable and its citizens live in a constant state of fear, pessimism and uncertainty. There is darkness and distress with a mix of tyrannical governments, environmental disasters, or some cataclysmic or apocalyptic decline in society. A dystopia does not imply a completely bad society, but by human standards these categories can be loosely defined:


 * Politics - governing class can be hedonistic and shallow, or citizens have pessimistic views of a government that is brutal or uncaring, ruling with an "iron fist" or dictatorship. These governments often encounter rebellions that lead to a resistance movement that tries to bring societal changes.
 * Economics - feature black markets with goods that are dangerous and difficult to obtain and citizens are at the mercy of a state-controlled economy; a centrally controlled economic system has with material abundance but all work is menial and unsatisfying; there is no want of any kind, only consumerism and hedonism; privatization and corporatism are consequences of capitalism, where large corporations influence the government in setting policy and making decisions. They manipulate, infiltrate, control, bribe, are contracted by and function as government. This is a socio-economically primitive Age of Scarcity, where individuals devote most of their time to creating wealth for themselves and society.
 * Class - privileges of the ruling class and the dreary existence of the working class that are just "numbers" without real identity; the majority of a population lives in poverty with little access to health care and are subject to worker exploitation and police brutality, while the wealthy prosper.
 * Religious groups play the role of the oppressed and oppressors.
 * Violence and crime is prevalent; policy brutality is rampant; legal systems are corrupt and justice is bought.
 * Nature - urban, concrete jungles take over and nature is abandoned; science coordinated by government is directed toward the control of nature and the elimination of natural human instincts to achieve slavery; excessive pollution destroys nature.
 * Technology - destroys nature, harming human health and the environment; encourages the worst aspects of human nature; harms our interpersonal communication, relationships, and communities; more efficiency and choices can harm our quality of life by causing stress, destroying jobs, and making us more materialistic.
 * The likelihood of extinction is high and people have apocalyptic fears of nuclear war or some other ominous event.

A spacefaring civilization may expand aggressively using FTL and sprawl far beyond its original government. It may regress into societal collapse and eventually a form of interstellar barbarism with little regard for life. Eventually each faction may adopt its own government and culture, leaving a mere husk of what once existed.

Examples of dystopia are found under extinction level events, as a dystopian society is likely to lead to disaster.

Compare:

Utopia