Idiocracy

If you haven't seen Idiocracy you probably shouldn't. However, I just did this weekend and it does have some politcal-economic themes in it.

In the film, Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph are frozen for a military experiment and awake in the year 2505. In the future, the stupid have so far outbred the intelligent, Luke and Maya arrive as the smartest living people in the world. Eventually, the President who is also a porn star and wrestler puts Luke Wilson's character (Joe) in charge of solving the agriculture crisis one of the many major problems that has been caused by the dumbing of the population. Joe learns that water has largely been replaced by 'Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator', a Gatoraid-like drink advertised as rich in electrolytes. One of the many uses of Brawndo is crop irrigation. Over time, the sugar from Brawndo accumulated in the soil, killing the crops and causing the food shortage.

Joe proposes uses water for irrigation which is seemingly laughable as water is only used in toilets. Fortunately, Joe is able to get the transfer from Brawndo to water enacted. However, the reaction from the unenlightened entrenched interests comes quickly. Joe is harshly criticized for harming the sports-drink industry, in which a large fraction of the population appears to be employed. His policy is criticized for causing unemployment and destroying the economy, with little evidence about the overall economic situation other than Brawndo being upset. After being verbally attacked by the management of Brawndo, Joe is physically attacked by an angry mob of now unemployed sports-drink workers. He is soon removed from his office and sentenced to 'rehabilitation' which is a lot like a futuristic feeding to the lions.

...I thought about creating a Luddite Fallacy tag for this brief piece, but I think I'm just going to go with more Creative Destruction.