Can the world of tomorrow be predicted? I'm not asking for specific events that psychics rant of every other week. I think, when it comes to the future, only blurred guesses can be made. So, what will it be like for the USA Superpower, ten, twenty, thirty years down the line? ten--Conservative President. Homeland Security is still around and strong. Conservative Congress. Several bloody wars have been fought around the world by now, but the US is as strong as ever. twenty--A few large events have shaped the world. New breaks in scientific research. The world is beginning to change from the way it is now to the way it will be. It's tougher for me to go into more detail while retaining any hint of charismaPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! thirty--The world has been reduced to a cinder. Not a trace of life left on the planet, a radioactive dust cloud has made Earth brighter than Venus. Plus or minus ten, twenty, or thirty yearsPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
sounds about right, although i think it will be a bit longer before step three than thirty years...closer to a hundred I'd say
i doubt the US will suervive much longer as it is just like rome fell, the US thinks its invincable, is pissing everyone off (even its friends), and really doesnt exist how it was MENT to be anyway i wonder what will replace it?
I don’t think the World’s future can be predicted, at least not in a detail that would allow us to deviate from the wrong path. Besides your thread its explicitly placing the USA in the crystal ball and since USA is not (by a long shoot) the world, it may be easier to predict. In the following fantasy, I take into consideration the magnificent and ever growing American foreign debt, that if I may say, it is unique in this world. Ten: US types of government had built such a worldwide anti-Americanism, that hardly any foreign government is able to sustain cordial relations with us. Economies will suffer severely. Treaties have been broken, the vacuum created is forcing US to favorite third world governments and create new paths with emerging economies. Such weak countries will profit from the disengagement between of old leading economies. Revolt and widespread public disappointment across the globe will begin unrest providing governments with the option of marginalization. Not respected international institutions are powerless to harmonize relations. Twenty: After suffering the economic shockwave that has destabilized, countries will be too busy finding ways for reduced or controlled damages to societies. The middle class will be shifted to both streams of the socio-economic spectrum. Chaos in government due to conflict of interests could risk phase-I or anarchy, and not just in US. Semi militarized form of temporary government could trigger clashes where the power will try to dictate the correct path for the country. In-house social unrest will trigger state-crimes that will escalate risking splitting the US back pre-union times. Thirty: USA will find itself split into own identities, own states and own governments. About the radioactive cloud, I’m not very optimistic. With less than 10% of earth atmosphere polluted with the effects of radioactivity, the overwhelming damage to human health and environment, will not allow it to escalate. By the way, I didn’t clean my crystal ball when I was reading into it, and had one beer too many! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
+10-15 America in precipitous decline as superpower. Energy and consumer goods crisis and several failed, bloody American wars spell the end of American dominance. US economy in deep recession. More political diversity appearing, but along with rising racial, interstate and regional tension. Europe continuing to integrate, surpassing US productibity in 8-10 years. Middle East the scene of momentous change, several revolutions, Europe emerging in concert with restructured UN Security Counsel begin to make progress in still nasty Israeli-Palestinian conflict. African politics and economy begin to show much promise. China moving gradually but inexorably toward overt free market, acting regional superpower including Afghanistan & Taiwan, Japan begins arms race with China. Further wars of secession in former Russian Federation. +15-30 Geopolitics far below the horizon from here, but technology begins to influence it considerably: Energy packaged largely with hydrogen products, geothermal, solar, tidal, and other energy sources diversify and decentralize energy gathering. Biotech, nanotech, and communications begin to further diversify, integrate, and stabilize world economies and ease competition for resources. At 18-20 year mark, political structures begin to be threatened by their own sloth and irrelevance, bringing civil unrest, although wealth is becoming more widespread. +30-50 Development of AIs, nanoassemblers, bioengineering/medical revolution arrive almost concurrently, beginning a worldwide (but not utopic) transformation of everything: Future Shock causes much turmoil and conflict within society. Too much technological innovation to imagine from here, and too much to cope well with for a large segment of population. I cope just fine- I forsaw it all Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Singularity does not occur, but the quantum modems have very interesting surprises as they come online, yes, ETs. +50 Happiest Earth ever, we're outward bound and changing fast, still no singularity, but things are completely unrecognizable from where we sit guessing now. Filling in more guesses than this is for another part of sciforums.
Oh, I left out the nuke evil genie thing. We already have respect for things that go boom now. We're crazy, but fortunately not sufficiently stupid to bring armageddon. We've had means of self-destruction since we came climbed down from the trees, and since each of us were born. The fear of not being will see us through, and also we're about to come together in more ways than we'll grow apart.
But Rome lasted 500 years as a republic, then another 400 years as an empire. And you can throw in another 100 years if you count the shift to Byzantine. Could be the US is just beginning.
Well, given my extensive watching-of-television-to-do-with-Rome as well as reading all three books in Asimov's foundation series, I'd have to say that there could be a period of anarchy. The world might collapse.
I think so, but on those days they traveled by mules. So, we would need account for a small time-adjustment calculation to reciprocate the analogy.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
