Beware the Dystopian Double

The truth is that now is the best time to be alive.

By Ian Lambot - http://cityofdarkness.co.uk/order-print/01-aerial-view/Also found in the book City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City by Ian Lambot (ISBN 1-873200-13-7)., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56276674

---

Lately, I’ve found myself watching The Handmaid’s Tale and The Last of Us - back-to-back.

What started as casual evening viewing turned into a dystopian double down. Instead of escaping the anxieties of today’s world - conflict, climate, inequality - I was steeping myself in imagined ones where things go even more wrong.

It got me thinking.

We’re drawn to dystopian stories because they explore what happens when society breaks. But they also strip individuals of something fundamental: choice and agency.

In these imagined futures, people are controlled. They are silenced. They lose the ability to shape their own destiny.

And that’s what makes our real-world work - especially at places like Wallara - so important.

Everyday, we work to expand choice, voice and agency for people with disabilities. We help them find work, maximise their independence including moving out of the family home and take their place in the community. As the NDIS is being reviewed and reimagined, this principle of agency is more vital than ever.

While resetting the NDIS in Australia to a sustainable level given all the other demands on the national budget is causing some serious distress, we’re not heading into a dystopia. In fact, compared to most of human history, we’re in the best time to be alive.

Just a few centuries ago, life was short, brutal and marked by deep injustice for everyone. What we have now - rights, inclusion, support systems - didn’t come from fate. It came from people choosing purpose.

And that’s why I believe in doing work that matters. Because the best way to push back against dystopia - fictional or otherwise - is to help build a future of hope, choice, and dignity for everyone.

So yes, maybe it’s time to switch up the watchlist. Maybe ‘Love on the Spectrum’ would be a good counterbalance. But more importantly - let’s stay committed to what really shapes the world: the work we do, and the values we live.