A society that decides the merit and worth of everything by its utility is not a good society.

And yet that’s the sort of society we are choosing to live in – because it makes the rich richer, which has become the actual de facto goal of just about everything no matter what platitudes are mouthed on the news.

There’s evidence of this utilitarian focus everywhere: common core, diminishment of humanities studies, running universities as businesses, our mediocre budgets for arts, our disdain for fundamental research.

Nearly the entire flood of public-facing propaganda is designed to facilitate this as it busily informs us that if you aren’t directly in the service of making some rich white man richer, you are contemptible and have no reason to live.

Teacher? Parasite. Artist? Worthless. Research scientist? Garbage. Scholar? Shouldn’t get paid for doing something you love! Astronomer? Hope there is some hard currency on Alpha Centauri!

Perhaps a society can operate long-term like ours. Perhaps. But it won’t be a very joyful or interesting place to live.

People won’t read sf of dystopic fiction, and yet will resignedly live in such an environment with no complaint. I must say that fact does puzzle me.