I can't take credit for the subject line, or for the assertion that Burke's vision of Helhaven is dystopian--my roommate is planning a dissertation chapter by that name, because Dave suggested it to her. I just think it's way cool and deserves to be communicated

One of the questions brought up by Burke's scarily accurate dystopian predictions is whether it can rightly be termed dystopic. As my roommate has said, just because Kurt Vonnegut was wrong in Player Piano doesn't mean it's not dystopic, since dystopias are all about looking to the future and imagining the scariest future possible (I'm paraphrasing badly, but that's the basic premise).

So, since precognition is not a condition for a dystopia, what can we make of Helhaven on its own terms? What is this dystopic vision? Is there anything left to fear?

I think yes. And I think the scariest facet of Helhaven is not the technology, but the terminology. It's subtitle: Mighty Paradisal Culture-Bubble is evocative of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which I think might've even been set on the moon (wasn't that where the scary witch's castle was?). Other favorite terms: Edenic Garden and Babylonic, Technologic Tower. Chambers of Discomfort. Dark Realm of Meditation, and of course, the term for the inhabitants: Lunar Paradisiacs (what a great name for a rock band).

The names are meant satirically, but they seem sincere in the current contemporary climate of simulacra. What's scary to me is this kitche/camp/postmodern trend in popular culture. These names are not going to be meant literally, but as sincere satire--as self-aware simulacra that become the signified of their own signifiers.