Anybody read Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Talents"?

[clevergrrrl]

The parallels are uncanny. She wrote this and set it in the mid 2020s. My prediction for the US is a Balkanization of the United States of America. Cascadia (California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington) Michigandia (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) New New England (Maryland up to Maine with New York) The southern states will form loose alliances where all but the .001% are impoverished and adopt slavery once more because lets face facts, the Civil War never really ended. This or the techbro parasites get their tecno-feudal society where all United States citizens serve them, pretty much the way things are now but high octane.

AI Overview
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Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Talents" uses the slogan "Make America Great Again" in a dystopian context to depict a future where a Christian ethno-nationalist leader comes to power on such promises, eventually leading to concentration camps and societal collapse. The novel, set in the 2020s and 2030s, uses the slogan as a tool to explore themes of social and political decay, and the dangers of unchecked power.
Here's a more detailed look at how Butler utilizes the slogan:
Dystopian Setting:
Butler's "Parable" series, including "Parable of the Talents," paints a picture of a future America grappling with environmental disaster, social unrest, and a decline of democratic ideals.
Authoritarian Leader:
The novel features a character, President Andrew Steele Jarrett, who utilizes the "Make America Great Again" slogan as part of his campaign and rule.
Historical Parallels:
The slogan's use in Butler's novel echoes its real-world usage in political campaigns, particularly in the 1980s and later in the 2016 US election.
Critique of Nationalism:
By depicting a leader using the slogan to usher in a dystopian future, Butler critiques the dangers of unchecked nationalism, the romanticization of the past, and the exclusion of marginalized groups

[mwf]

1. Yes!

It’s time for a re-read. Uncanny.

[Scrivener7]

2. No, but I will now! Thanks!

[CrispyQ]

3. Yes, the Sower & the Talents.

Great but sobering stories & I agree, very close to what appears to be happening in real life.

[frogstar0]

4. Yes

Yes

[nolabear]

5. Absolutely. Parable of the Sower first though.

Her descriptions of the apocalyptic outcome of a world shockingly like our own and the power of cults of all kinds are so on point it’s spooky.

[chia]

6. I have it but haven't read it. Moving it to the top of the stack. Thank you.

[ancianita]

7. Glad you read it. I loved the Parable of the Sower & have the Talents, but I read ahead to the ending

and don't think it will do anything but distract me from seeing what's in front of us right now. Of course, any fiction does that. So does being online and not out in the world.

The Sower was beautiful and emotionally hard, but it was a distracting fiction; it wasn't a prediction.
Anyway, because of that and because I read ahead to the ending of Talents , I just don't know if I can face another fictional application of the Talents parable, creative as it seems.

But to each his own, right?