Which science fiction dystopia would you live in if you had to live in one

[bmcclure7]

Space feudalism: society is organized into a rigid hierarchy which grows more rigid the further you go up. Rights, responsibilities, privileges and technology are directly proportional to your place on the hierarchy. Freedom is indirectly proportional to it. Movement up the hierarchy is at best uncommon at worst impossible. Correct religious doctrine is a necessity that becomes more important to further up the hierarchy. You are. Passionate religious displays devotion are not just a feature, but it requirement and are expected to grow more extreme the further up the hierarchy you are. Punishments are often draconian, though these can be mitigated by moving up the hierarchy if possible. On the plus side you get to be a cool knight in power armor. 
 

Anarchic Space West: law-enforcement of any time is rare, and when it does happen it looks like a twisted mix between a vigilante group and a drug gang. Carrying guns is an absolute necessity for survival. Public services are absolutely unheard of it. You need help. You have to depend on yourself your family or friends. Few others you can trust.  People naturally formed into small groups based on land, blood and sometimes religion and are extremely distressful outsiders.  Occasionally, a local war order will try to carve himself out an empire, but so far this seems to be too much competition for that to succeed.  Social hierarchy is in a constant state of flux and seems to be based solely on how many friends you have and how big of guns you have. On the plus side you get up to live out your space cowboy fantasies. 
 

Cyberpunk corporatism. Corruption in government and law enforcement are rampant. On paper crime is low fact however, you can get away with most anything if you’re willing to pay the proper bribes. All corporations are controlled by a small group of corporate families that serve a type of oligarchy your place in social hierarchy is completely defined by how much money or utility you can make for these families. Everything is comically overpriced.  Everything is a constant struggle for those who don’t have money. On the plus side if you have money, you get to become a superhuman cyborg if you want.
 

Absolute technocratic state. You owe nothing and you are happy mainly because your happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy means that your psychiatrist will give you more drugs until you are. You have no control over your life. Everything is decided by AI, algorithms, or the so-called expertise of technocrats. You are bombarded by constant propaganda of how mankind has risen above his animal instincts and becoming enlightened being. You live a life of total hedonism not because you particularly enjoyed it but because you’re bored and have no incentive to do anything else.  Nearly everything is done by robots. Correct ideological and political doctrine is a necessity any descent from the norm established by the technocrats is treated as mental illness and medicated. You only hope for something interesting to do is the score high enough on your intelligence and educational exam that you can apply for the more interesting engineering, scientific or military jobs. However, even those jobs things are mostly done by AI with humans regulated to oversight. On a plus side you get to live like some sort of space billionaire for free. You can indulge in nearly any desire so long as it is considered to be in line with what the technocrats consider enlightenment. And if you desire something outside of that, don’t worry, that can be solved with proper medication. 

Edited October 20, 2025 by bmcclure7