John sprinkled salt on his napkin to keep the cold pint glass from sticking to it. “I mean, look – we have huge financial institutions that use made-up money, which almost systematically destroyed our financial system. We have a few major corporations that own all of our media, through various subsidiaries and whatnot, controlling everything we see and hear.”

“Uh-huh,” Matty replied, unmoved.

“We have shows on TV about would-be brides competing for the chance to have plastic surgery,” John kept on, “and other shows about watching people try to find love on a game show or watching them suffer through cartoonish violence in these giant Rube Goldberg obstacle courses. Pop culture has had its frame of reference reduced to months if not days. We’re all excited about eating meals from fucking food trucks!”

“What are you getting at?” asked Matty, annoyed.

“Our world is exactly as bad as we thought it would be! Tell me how this is not the dystopian future we saw in Blade Runner and episodes of Max Headroom!”