Video: No Fear of the future
El futuro influye más en el presente que el pasado.
El futuro deseado, no el real

La ciència ficció és més que un gènere literari, pot arribar a convertir-se en una forma de fer política, en una manera d’activisme, tal i com apuntaven a la Conferència Global de Ciberpunk i Cibercultura de Praga (2003). Reivindicant la força del relat, la mitopoesi i els fantasmes semiòtics:

El relato del futuro puede ser tan poderoso a la hora de construir la realidad como los mitos del pasado. La diferencia es que la construcción del pasado, la historización popular, es monopolio de los grandes media y del sistema educativo estatal (la Historia a fin de cuentas es el fundamento de la identidad nacional).

Aquests darrers dies al feevy del meu bloc han coincidit dues entrades que no he pogut evitar relacionar, les situava al mateix mapa (al mapa que estic imaginant per Suburbia), les descobria a  Beyond the beyond i Ciberpunk Review…

 

Border closed. Network open

Edgelands are where we go to find refugees, favelas, commerce outside the law, and wild nature spliced into human space.

He descobert Chris N. Brown i Pepe Rojo (i el seu Frente de Liberación de Tijuana)  a través de Science Fiction in the Edgelands, on es presenta a Rojo i a altres autors mexicans que inevitablement recorren al concepte de frontera per generar noves narratives (subversives). Intervencions de ciència ficció que desenvolupen en la zona fronterera de Tijuana per explorar realitat, fronteres, passat i futur, amb un punt undercovering control. (Em venia al cap un altre títol, Días de frontera).  Brown, a més, també escriu sobre espais borrosos -sobre els Edgelands-  i explica que com diuen a Tijuana, «El futur ha de reiventar-se».

 

Robo-fetishists in 2050

Paral·lelament (en realitat no tant paral·lelament…..) a ciberpunk review es feien ressó d’un article publicat a la revista Future, «Robots, homes i turisme sexual» de Ian Yeoman i Mart Michelle, on imaginen -en un exercici de ficció-  el Red Light district de l’Amsterdam del 2050. Descriuen un escenari futurible on les prositutes-robot substituiran a les treballadores del sexe, i com això afectarà a una economia que depén del turisme sexual, perquè tal i com plantegen els autors: si els bordells s’omplen de màquines, s’esvairà l’estigma de pagar pel sexe? O com per exemple podria beneficiar a la indústria del sexe evitant problemes per malalties de transmissió sexual o xarxes de tràfic de persones.

Adjunto un fragment de l’article, que pel que es veu han rescatat a io9 ja que és de pagament…., on Yeoman i Michelle descriuen el Yub-Yum (un dels prostíbuls més exlusius i històrics del Red Light District d’Amsterdam) al 2050 en el que podria ser el primer capítol d’una novel·la ciberpunk. A veure si m’animo i el tradueixo…

The Yub-Yum is Amsterdam’s top sex club for business travellers located beside a 17th century canal house on the Singel. It is modern and gleaming with about 100 scantily clad blonde and brunettes parading around in exotic G-strings and lingerie. Entry costs s10,000 for an all inclusive service. The club offers a full range of sexual services from massages, lap dancing and intercourse in plush surroundings. The Yub-Yum is a unique bordello licensed by the city council, staffed not by humans but by androids. This situation came about due to an increase in human trafficking in the sex industry in the 2040s which was becoming unsustainable, combined with an increase in incurable STI’s in the city especially HIV which over the last decade has mutated and is resistant to many vaccines and preventive medicines. Amsterdam’s tourist industry is built on an image of sex and drugs. The council was worried that if the red light district were to close, it would have a detrimental effect on the city’s brand and tourism industry, as it seemed unimaginable for the city not to have a sex industry. Sex tourism is a key driver for stag parties and the convention industry. The Yub-Yum offers a range of sexual gods and goddesses of different ethnicities, body shapes, ages, languages and sexual features. The club is often rated highly by punters on www.punternet.com and for the fifth year in a row, in 2049 was voted the world’s best massage parlour by the UN World Tourism Organisation. The club has won numerous technology and innovation awards including the prestigious ISO iRobotSEX award. The most popular model is Irina, a tall, blonde, Russian exotic species who is popular with Middle Eastern businessmen. The tourists who use the services of Yub-Yum are guaranteed a wonderful and thrilling experience, as all the androids are programmed to perform every service and satisfy every desire. All androids are made of bacteria resistant fibre and are flushed for human fluids, therefore guaranteeing no Sexual Transmitted Disease’s are transferred between consumers. The impact of Yub-Yum club and similar establishments in Amsterdam has transformed the sex industry alleviating all health and human trafficking problems. The only social issues surrounding the club is the resistance from human sex workers who say they can’t compete on price and quality, therefore forcing many of them to close their shop windows. All in all, the regeneration of Amsterdam’s sex industry has been about the success of the new breed of sex worker. Even clients feel guilt free as they actually haven’t had sex with a real person and therefore don’t have to lie to their partner.