2020 Is Closer Than U Think: The Polymer One Shot
Waaay back in 1990, the Cyberpunk idea of a plastic gun that could be created on an “autofactory” machine was the stuff of science fiction. But now…
http://gizmodo.com/100-000-people-have-already-downloaded-3d-printed-gun-p-498755006
Yep, the Dark Future is closer than u think…
3D printing and the polymer one-shot is another example of the incredible prescience of the Cyberpunk 2020 book. The implications of 3D printing weapons is off the charts; for example wired’s danger room has dozens of articles like, “Watch the New and Improved Printable Gun Spew Hundreds of Bullets,” (no link, it’s often against the rules in comments) that shows a Texas mans quest to prove to the government that its impossible to keep the genie in the bottle. So many questions arise from this issue, if one accepts that more stringent firearm controls will just lead people to print there weapons, how do you regulate it?
Also, related to automation, if you believe the zeitgeist movements point that where we to implement full automation with todays technology we could replace 80% of all jobs within a year. Even if a quarter of that where true in four years it would be devastating to the status quo. But, automation is both negative and positive, being faster, more efficient and above all else safer are part of the issue, but many of the jobs they are taking are menial labor activities. It puts the onus on us to focus on improving our purpose in life. This would require a total restructuring of society, something that I think is at the heart of or spirit of the Cyberpunks rebellion. If not so realized, at least in the stark contrast of the total imbalance of the dystopic world in the dark future every Cyberpunk knows that it cannot be this. The advancement of technology for the purposes of pure exploration, without the external and greater consideration of society as a whole.
Probably why I love Cyberpunk fiction so much. It has, by being the negative, been the guide by which I have learned to navigate the world, and hope for a better one. Those dystopia serve as warning, this must never become reality, we walk through life and see examples and point and say, “That is like Cyberpunk,” is the bellwether of a dark corner.