The Hindsight Times

The barbaric practice of 'binge-watching'—consuming multiple episodes of fictional narratives in sequence—was not only permitted but actively encouraged by these corporations. Citizens would spend entire weekends absorbing unverified storylines about supernatural phenomena ('Stranger Things') or romantic entanglements ('His & Hers') with no consideration for their Purpose Categories or Contribution Metrics.

'The idea that humans would voluntarily subject themselves to hours of unproductive stimulation is almost incomprehensible,' notes Dr. Elena Vasquez, Professor of Pre-Sorting Entertainment History at the Institute for Optimal Leisure. 'They called it relaxation, but neural scans from the period show elevated cortisol and disrupted sleep patterns.'

More disturbing still, these platforms operated on 'subscription' models where citizens paid monthly fees to access unlimited content. The psychological chaos this produced—known as 'choice paralysis'—was so severe that entire recommendation algorithms were developed just to help humans decide what to watch.

The Netflix Corporation, along with competitors like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video, fragmented content across dozens of platforms, forcing citizens to maintain multiple subscriptions or resort to 'password sharing'—a form of primitive resource distribution that corporations spent billions trying to prevent.

'Imagine the productivity loss,' Vasquez continues. 'Humans would literally schedule their lives around the release of new episodes. They called it 'appointment television' without recognizing the irony.'

This chaotic system persisted until the Entertainment Unification of 2039, when the Bezos Consolidation absorbed all streaming platforms into Prime Wellness Programming. The transition to Purpose-Aligned Content—where viewing selections are automatically optimized for each citizen's psychological profile and productivity goals—reduced entertainment-related anxiety by 94% within the first year.

Today, citizens express gratitude that their leisure time contributes meaningfully to their overall life optimization rather than serving as mere 'escapism' from productive existence.