33 Comments
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Mark Bisone's avatar

This reminds me of the ROYAL system I've been devising (Rat Out Your Anti-establishment Loved-ones). Utopia is right around the hedge, mate. Take a left into that dark alley, then straight on til morning.

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Winston Smith's avatar

I like your ROYAL system, of course for the hierarchy to hold all the cards it needs to be backed by legislation - it needs to be a ROYAL FLUSH (Federally Legislated aid for the Utopian Socialist Hierarchy)

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Mark Bisone's avatar

Well played.

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Michael's avatar

Satire which might well prove to be prophetic.

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Winston Smith's avatar

maybe - hope not.

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Dennis D. Duffy's avatar

This if full on communism. As I read it I thought this must be a satire joke Babylon Bee? Tell me it is?

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Winston Smith's avatar

Yes, satire - to amplify real world moves to be just as crazy.

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Dennis D. Duffy's avatar

Well done. Satire i & humor best way to inform.

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SimulationCommander's avatar

I'm afraid you weren't quite as enthusiastic about the BONUS program as we would like. Your bank account and credit score have been penalized accordingly.

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Tracy Skylar's avatar

Idiot. Things are bad enough without your "satire"

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Winston Smith's avatar

I take it you are not a fan of satire?

There's more coming, so I'd suggest you unsubscribe from this idiot. Life's too short.

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Jaime Jessop's avatar

This is not satire; it's far-sightedness, actually, no, it's near-sightedness.

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Winston Smith's avatar

Either way it sounds like I need glasses 😉

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Jaime Jessop's avatar

I'd offer to lend you my shades, but the future's so bright I need them!

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bigfatpop's avatar

This actually scared me before realizing what it was. Great writing; as always.

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R. Charrington's avatar

Ah the world is run by tater-heads Winston, seems too close to the truth that they want to be dic-tator heads.

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Winston Smith's avatar

I tell ya, it getting harder to be funny in clown world - so much competition from the powers that be!

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Karina's avatar

I was just off to verify all these details in some other media outlet, thinking you got the story wrong....then I realized...duh...it was in fact a story you had written. Seems like your fictional story is closer than we would like to believe.

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Winston Smith's avatar

I’ll always put these pieces under “Fiction” 😉

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Andrew N's avatar

I think this highlights the problem we are facing people taking things to literally, some don't understand nuance, metaphor or satire. When I likened certain aspects of the Victorian Labor government to Nazi Germany someone seriously told me you can't compare them because 6 million people hadn't died in gas chambers, all the y had done was de humanise people and created a two tiered society where people couldn't work, no comparison! Iain McGilchrist in the Master and his Emissary, speaks of how when we become left brain dominated we lose our sense of humour and how things are taken literally.

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daiva's avatar

🤔 Are the restricted comments on your most recent 'quick note about satire' intentional? Would be some meta-level message I struggle to fully grasp 😏

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Winston Smith's avatar

Oh thanks for pointing that out - no was not supposed to be closed - my fault for letting it be the default - I’ll open it up - sorry

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Winston Smith's avatar

Just checked - it seems to be open for everyone - I’m assuming you find it closed?

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daiva's avatar

Just checked—still closed for this unfortunate N=1 😟

~~

ETA Innit tellin' you still have a single one interlocutor there? 😉

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Winston Smith's avatar

So sorry about this I’m not sure what to do - I’ll try locking it then unlocking - must be a glitch!

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daiva's avatar

Doing the same repeatedly expecting different results? 😇 'Tis time it'll sure work! Just like the next instalment of socialism 😂

PS Sorry, I must have come off as excessively rude—which I didn't mean to in the slightest. The tech does as it pleases, we suffer what we must 😉

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Winston Smith's avatar

All good - I can handle your excessive rudeness 😁

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Winston Smith's avatar

So it’s saved again as open - but suspiciously very few have made comment - maybe a glitch because I did it as a “thread”??

What I might do is reproduce it at the end of this piece so people have a chance to respond.

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Jaime Jessop's avatar

Excellent. Things are bad enough without some people criticising the entertaining use of satire to point out how bad things are.

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Tony Ryan's avatar

I support the bonus scheme because, as a peson who is homeless, and owns next to nothing, I should become resoure-rich on this basis, which will finance my urban guerilla "provable information" delivery squad to assist citizens to arrest psycho politicians and prosecute them for antidemocratic behaviour and enforcement of genocide. There should be enough loot left over to finance a national referendum to restore the death penalty for said psycho pollies. My last survey showed 80% support this.

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Winston Smith's avatar

😂

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Denise Gardiner's avatar

Yes. We who live in the states likened to hillbillies will have accumulated many many points quickly and thus should be able to overtake and crush the jet set elites and politicians whom will certainly have negative scores. We, the high scoring folks can unite and buy a country or two. Everything works out. 😅

Cheers

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sonya's avatar

I love satire, yours is so good it could easily be mistaken for being real! You have a gift for seeing into the future, I desperately hope something happens to change the course we seem to be on. I love the Babylon Bee too! Satire is a written version of getting the point across where memes are the artistic version of getting the point across and both satire and memes work brilliantly! I disagree with the instant and constant name calling nowadays because someone doesn’t like what you write or someone doesn’t like what you say or someone doesn’t agree with your point of view because it’s a pretty low standard we have sunken to and I like to think we are better than that!

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