What ‘Soylent Green’ Got Wrong

In 1973, “Soylent Green” envisioned the world in 2022. It got a lot right. The Washington Post, January 9, 2022

In the last few decades, sci-fi apocalyptists and political opportunists hit on the general rule that when you speak of the true disaster, the moment when the Spam will really hit the can, you always peg it at about ten years in the future. Forecasting calamity is like owning a bar that posts a “free beer tomorrow” sign. Because math is hard, people will usually forget the specific year in which you are offering the grim tidings. (It’s now been 16 years since Al Gore said we had ten years to fix our addiction to fossil fuels in order to save the planet.)

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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In 1973, “Soylent Green” envisioned the world in 2022. It got a lot right. The Washington Post, January 9, 2022

In the last few decades, sci-fi apocalyptists and political opportunists hit on the general rule that when you speak of the true disaster, the moment when the Spam will really hit the can, you always peg it at about ten years in the future. Forecasting calamity is like owning a bar that posts a “free beer tomorrow” sign. Because math is hard, people will usually forget the specific year in which you are offering the grim tidings. (It’s now been 16 years since Al Gore said we had ten years to fix our addiction to fossil fuels in order to save the planet.)