Subscribe Now
It feels as though everything these days requires a subscription. We no longer buy things. We pay for access. I think if they could figure out how to do that with clothes and groceries they would. You can get in for free to the necessities section of the grocery with in-app purchases. Pay a monthly fee for access to the larger selection store. Buy the premium service and you can get the best cuts of meat. It’s probably a model under construction somewhere. Or maybe it’s Costco and Sams.
Next up they’ll do clothes. Rent a shirt, rent a pair of pants, rent to own. They want their hands in your pockets in perpetuity. They’re already doing it with cars. How else can you explain $100,000 trucks and their constant demands to let them handle the financing and what monthly payment can you afford. And housing. Wow. Rent. Mortgages. All subscriptions. Even when you own them, you have to pay the taxman for the privilege to continue living there. And no one is giving you water and sewage for free. They won’t let you dig a well or have an outhouse.
And good luck getting off the grid, because the grid is now everywhere, especially if you have a cell phone because you’re carrying your very own tracker. The grid follows you around. Plus, they have cameras too. So, chances are you’re being watched, and someone is probably working out how to charge you for it. A street usage fee. Pay a monthly subscription and you can walk the streets, or get the park package, and enjoy nature. Would that count as dystopian?