It is commonly repeated that dystopias are depictions of the future that have political implications for the present. And I would grant that when a dystopian novel is written, that is almost certainly true for the author and the contemporary audience. But over time, the technological and geopolitical reality changes. The trend that seemed inexorable at the time it was written was thrown off course by a Black Swan event, concerted advocacy against the trend. Or perhaps the seemingly unstoppable trend dissipated without any external pressure. Perhaps the perceived trend was an illusion borne of the availability bias, a statistical artefact, or the madness of crowds. It's also possible that the trend was real, and people's negative reaction to
