An Oppressed World

[Minibit]

Most of you are probably already familiar with the "show, don't tell" rule, it's at the centre of this topic.

It is not enough to simply TELL that the world is presently oppressed in some way, one must SHOW the oppression affecting the world continuously.

Let's brainstorm some ways we can SHOW oppression in a world, instead of just having the characters/narration mention it

• Prices going up and budgets going down to accommodate overtaxing and tributes
• Evil army patrols, or regular law enforcement corrupted
• Closed borders
• Scrutiny entering/leaving cities
• Food shortages due to raids/pogroms/tributes
• Normally good/harmless animals corrupted or transformed
• Education/Combat training suppressed
• An increased amount of homeless bombarding people walking down the street for money/food
• Outright bickering/fights in the streets that go unnoticed
• Freedom groups with secret meetings
• Prostitution
• Buildings that are rundown beyond repair
• Common folk moving trudging about in a lack luster manner with their eyes lowered to the ground.
• Public executions of suspected 'dissidents'.
• People expected to praise their 'glorious' leader.
• Professional crime becoming an acceptable profession instead of a last resort/oddball job.
• Private investigators replace police detectives, for the most part.
• Assigned careers/lifestyles.
• Massive wealth gap and vastly noticeable difference between what constitutes "rich" and "poor."
• Regular announcements dogging criminals or showing how the governing force is still in control.
• Curfews.
• Heavily armed police groups, more than necessary for regular law enforcement.
• Lack of monetary currency to all but the rich.
• Barcoded/otherwise tracked citizens, required from birth-on.
• Big banners that say OBEY

• Either everyone wears the same uniform, or wear rags.
• Super efficiency at the expense of basic human rights.
• Propaganda taught at school or in the workplace.

 

[Di'Angelo]

Possibly a few ideas:

· An increased amount of homeless bombarding people walking down the street for money/food

· Outright bickering/fights in the streets that go unnoticed

· Buildings that are rundown beyond repair

· Freedom groups with secret meetings

· Prostitution


I don't quite know if all of these apply but it's what I came up with.

 

[Minibit]

Possibly a few ideas:

· An increased amount of homeless bombarding people walking down the street for money/food

· Outright bickering/fights in the streets that go unnoticed

· Buildings that are rundown beyond repair

· Freedom groups with secret meetings

· Prostitution


I don't quite know if all of these apply but it's what I came up with.

All of these are indicators of lawlessness and people getting increasingly desperate for means to survive; both indications of a country falling apart!

 

[Seth Bloodmoon]

Lets see. Not a lot but here's a few ideas.

- Common folk moving trudging about in a lack luster manner with their eyes lowered to the ground.

- Public executions of suspected 'dissidents'.

- People expected to praise their 'glorious' leader.

 

[ze_kraken]

• Professional crime becoming an acceptable profession instead of a last resort/oddball job.
• Private investigators replace police detectives, for the most part.
• Assigned careers/lifestyles.
• Massive wealth gap and vastly noticeable difference between what constitutes "rich" and "poor."
• Regular announcements dogging criminals or showing how the governing force is still in control.
• Curfews.
• Heavily armed police groups, more than necessary for regular law enforcement.
• Lack of monetary currency to all but the rich.
• Barcoded/otherwise tracked citizens, required from birth-on.

 

[Cheesecake]

• Big banners that say OBEY
• Either everyone wears the same uniform, or wear rags.
• Super efficiency at the expense of basic human rights.
• Propaganda taught at school or in the workplace.

 

[Protagonist]

Obviously, over the top propaganda. For a science fiction setting, I suggested having holograms of the leader's face projected onto the sky.

 

[Protagonist]

I'm trying my hand at creating an anarchist dystopia that's every bit as terrifying as a totalitarian one. Basically, a society that expends human lives to make sure the trains DON'T run on time. Here's my ideas:

-The oppressors/secret police are a structureless movement based on vague ideology (think like, evil anonymous, but with guns instead of computers), rather than a structured government. A hypothetical Hero could not just assassinate their leader, as they don't actually have one.

-Likewise, because they are not law enforcement, their equivalent to secret police do pretty much everything EXCEPT enforce actual laws. If anything, they encourage crime in order to keep society unstable.

-The Culture encourages people to equate being "socially liberated" with immoral actions (IE, stealing is treated as sign that one has fully liberated their mind from the tyranny of private property), along with a strong "blame the victim" mentality.

-Rapidly shifting ideology, as old ideas become "too mainstream".