Niko LaamanenFounder, Publisher at Konsensus Network

Utopias and Dystopias Lessons from Classic Literature

20 Mar 2025 · 1 min

0:45

In this segment of a YouTube discussion, the speakers explore the lineage of dystopian literature, beginning with Yevgeny Zamyatin's early 20th‑century novel We, which they note may predate Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. They question how classic dystopias resolve conflict and whether the protagonists can truly 'win,' even jokingly comparing possible outcomes to the violent resolution of The Hunger Games. The conversation also hints at a recurring financial dimension within many dystopian stories, suggesting that economic structures often underpin the oppressive societies depicted. The tone is informal and speculative, with a mix of curiosity and mild humor.

TranscriptAuto-generated · 1 min

But before, uh, George Orwell's 1984 or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, there was Zevgeny Zamyatin's We.
We, yeah.
I think it's like 100 years old, right? Or possibly, possibly older. Uh, somebody fact-check me. But it's, it's interesting. And then you sort of end up thinking, well, how do, how do we fix this? How do the good guys win? You know, is it like Hunger Games? Where you just shoot everyone. Sorry for the spoiler.
Spoilers.
But there's got to be a way. And, and some of, uh, some of what the stories in our collection, uh, talk about is, is, uh, there's a, there's a financial angle.