Porthole

2030 here we come

30DBC: 2030 sounds so futuristic, but it’s only ten years away! What do you think the world will be like ten years from now? What inventions do you think we will have by then? What are some changes you think will happen in the world in the next ten years?

How about a List of 5?

1. Privacy will be a thing of the Past for most people. You will be tracked by loved ones, parents, children, doctors, government. Already happening in China and in American universities. It will become so commonplace as to be assumed that privacy is neither good nor necessary. The blowback? Some will resist or opt-out.

2. We are moving towards a world without super-powers. Countries will either group or go alone. Those that go alone may find themselves outside the global economy. The best example will be Little England. I suspect Scotland will join the EU and Ireland will be united. No clue what Wales will do. Politics being what they are I also suspect there will be a joining. ASEAN (as in Indonesia and South-East Asia) may provide a balance to the powers of the EU, China and India. In the US I suspect Puerto Rico will be a state along with DC.

3. Weather catastrophes come every decade. Expect one humongous famine, flood, fire or typhoon to wipe a region out and possibly lead to a collapse of a nation... definitely revolution... possibly war. Even the US is not immune.

4. The divides of secular/religious will lead to war. The divide of us/them will lead to war. The divide of urban/rural will lead to war. The probability of WAR increases if inequities are not addressed. More authoritarian governments are likely to impose "peace". I'm not optimistic in the short-run.

5. The pendulum will swing back to collectivism and a sense of unity from the precipice of nativism, nationalism and competition. How soon and whether there will be much of anything left to bring together is the big question.

Other ideas? Some nations will abandon cash; others will abandon credit. Zealots will be seen as a threat by an ever increasingly secular world; the zealots may win. Civility is moribund; will it be revived? Expect more breakthroughs in green energy; expect a backlash. We will look to the stars again; China may lead the way. Plastic is already becoming passé. Women will gain more power. Our connectiveness as humans will become increasingly evident to more people and ideas will flow regardless of efforts to block them.

I'm always good at generating ideas!

Notes: overwhelmed by the number of comments I received today; that seldom happens. Thank-you.

Flash: "Spiders (300 words)" 

Poem? "After the party (24 syllables)" 

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