World 6

The Megacorp - Nozama

Started in the early 2000s in a garage in Seattle, Nozama began as a small online seller of household supplies. But by leveraging economies of scale, they were able to undercut most of their competitors, allowing the company to grow by leaps and bounds. Eventually, Nozama moved into other product categories, such as entertainment, electronics, furniture, and so on, becoming the world's largest online department store. Most small businesses could not compete, leaving more and more market share for Nozama to capture. There eventually came a point where if there was something you wanted, you could get it from Nozama.

The company became an opportunistic beast: if there was a service they could co-opt, or a product they could rip off, or a resource they could exploit, they would. This made them uniquely suited to grow amongst the chaos of the first half of the 21st century. And all that growth fed back into the beast: money was funnelled into research and development, advancing medicine, robotics, and artificial intelligence at a breakneck pace.

Now the year is 2050. Decades of pandemics, economic turmoil, and climate change disasters have led to unprecedented political instability. Most world governments have fallen into anarchy, only to be supplanted by the one system that has managed to thrive in all this uncertainty: Nozama. This mega-corporation has filled the power vacuum left by the world's collapsing governments, leveraging the most advanced consumer technology to take control of almost every aspect of daily life. They have their hands in everything from supermarkets and health care to law enforcement and education. In many ways, they are the new world government.

Consumerism as Ideology

• short description of the culture of marketing, monetary value, consumerism, etc.

Invasive Technology

AI is nothing without data, and much of Nozama's operation is built around collecting that data. To do that they provide consumers with "smart" devices that analyze every interaction they have with the user. Their artificially intelligent personal assistant, Jaina, allows users to converse with their devices in natural language, while also collecting every single conversation it hears. But the pride and joy of Nozama's data collection operation is their flagship product, the Nozama Coherent Hologram Implantable Projector™, more commonly known as the Nozama CHIP™.

CHIP™ is a small device implanted in a user's forearm, where it is powered of the user's own metabolism. CHIP™ is capable of connecting with 8G wireless networks, allowing users access to apps, games, social media, etc. In place of outdated screen technology, CHIP™ projects hard-light holograms onto the user's skin or into the air, which users can interact with physically. Originally sold as a neat consumer device (much like it smartphone predecessors), CHIP™ became increasingly necessary in the Nozama-ruled world. It acts as an ID card, and many Nozama stores and services require CHIP™ for payments or access; it's impossible to navigate mainstream society without one. Meanwhile, CHIP™ monitors everything about a user, from their purchasing habits to their bodily functions.

Citizenry and Politics

Mike

• short description of political system, and role of the citizen

Education

Lily - overview

All-STEM, All the Time

Leeah

• In these schools, there was no space for anything but Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Schools refused to allow students to take electives etc. and did anything possible to hinder their creative freedoms. For example, they imposed a strict dress code on everyone, where their hair must be short or tied back in a bun, must wear the same all-grey uniform, and no jewelry or anything that stands out.

• These schools were made to manufacture the same kind of person. Therefore, there was no space for art, creativity, etc. If anyone was caught with something creative or different, they would get kicked out of the school and sent to the lower level program

• No electives

Not finalized -- still in progress

Streaming

Leeah

• Within these STEM schools, there were two streams that children were allowed to pick from: the WORKER stream, or the EXECUTIVE stream.
• The W stream is centered around applying the knowledge you learn in order to get a job done. The courses are focused on hands-on activities – such as driving, sorting, packaging, manufacturing, and also, research and development.
• The E stream is more academically charged, and calls for students to be at the top of their classes when it comes to STEM. These courses are focused on the abstract, and showed students how market or manage, look at quality control, and come up with ideas for the new best thing
• The interesting thing about these streams is the fact that people could pay to access a higher quality course/lesson

Not finalized -- still in progress

Artifacts

Corporate Anthem - Sonia

Lesson Plan

Report Card

PA Announcement - Mike

Diary Entry - A Visit to the Factory - Lily

Counter-Culture

Leeah

• short description of the counter-culture
• different modes of resistance

Art as Resistance

As Nozama grew in power and began to control day to day activities, the capitalist mega corporation had placed a dominant focus on a STEM approach to life. This had led to a disregard for arts education as Nozama itself had found how to utilize technology to manufacture the most marketable and profitable art. With a press of a button and a complex algorithm, Nozama could produce computer generated music (jingles) and images (advertisements) without any human input.

While the standard citizen had no experience or exposure to creative art due to the compulsory core STEM curriculum, the counterculture had found community through the underground arts. Underground art ……..

-strength and unity -social realism (aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures behind these conditions.)

Not only was art used as a way to relay information, perspectives, ideas and knowledge discreetly against Nozama (for example, a common choice to relay information was through the use of zines), but it was also used to keep traditions, ethos, beliefs and cultures alive. Analogue art, in-person theatre and live music had become the preferred choice for interacting with the arts as these forms were undetectable with the proper precautions taken against the CHIP™.

-can sway opinions, direct resistance, or reform -showing their opposition to powerholders -express different points of view regarding global politics and social standards

-graffiti, chants,

STILL IN PROGRESS -Jazmin

Black Market Bartering

• Sonia - trading both objects and information

Artifacts

Protest Song - Sonia

Zine - Jazmin

Diary Entry - Poem - Leeah

Group Members

• Sonia Baggetta

• Jazmin Cordon-Ibanez

• Leeah George

• Lily Ohana

• Mike Riverso