Thanks for the explanation H. I hear what you are saying. I think though it's important to remember that the very definition of a dystopia excludes certain social issues and isolates and exaggerates others in order to point out negative qualities of the ones under examination.
Thus, many of the "loose ends" you rightly point out here, are *poof* magically gone. So interestingly, complaining about the lack of realism is irrelevant in the context of any dystopian "thought experiment."
I disagree.
Good dystopias are
more realistic; bad dystopias are
less realistic.
This relates back to Haphazard and my earlier discussion about dystopias, and how Phillip K. Dick's and Ray Bradbury's are the best, as they're the most realistic, and, hence, not only have applied at one time, but seem to continue to apply more accurately with each passing year.
"Brave New World" is still a pretty good dystopia, but, in my opinion, not
as good as Dick's or Bradbury's.
"1984", well, that vision is not as accurate today as it was when he wrote the book (obviously, this is not entirely the case, and in certain countries it is more or less accurate than in others, but, on the whole, Orwell's vision, while important, has lost a bit of relevance with age).
This "The Handmaid's Tale", on the other hand, well, I haven't read it, but...