What major societal and government changes do you think we'll see in the next decade?
Something realistic, not just what you would like to see.
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Replicated food. Self driving cars and trucks. Fast rail trains. City’s for homeless. Gated cities separating the rich and poor.
I think (hope) that in the next decade we will wind up with our first generation where no one smokes cigarettes. (Going on > 2 months here.)
If you have any skills at all, you can earn a real living wage.
In the United States, the “bluing” of America as the Republicans die off.
A move to be more Socialistic, not that anyone would admit to it.
Virtual reality headsets.
Ireland will be the first country to allow same-sex marriage by popular vote. If it passes, it may lead to abolishing their ban on abortion.
If ISIS and the Russian shenanigans aren’t curtailed, some type of warfare will occur.
As much as I hope that Israel and Palestine will call a truce and knock down the wall, I don’t see this happening.
The US and the UK will continue their slide down from being two of the top-rated most powerful countries due to internal problems.
Focus will eventually shift on dealing with climate change as more countries feel the belt tightening and people accept it as fact.
A [further] shift of power away from The People to the the government, as Western civilization attempts to live with, rather than do the morally correct thing and eradicate, the myriad cousins of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A popularly accepted way of legitimizing illegal immigrants (as long as they are coming from Central and South America).
Everybody, without regard to their income, will pay income taxes.
The federal established retirement age will be moved at least 3 years beyond what it is now.
There will be a swing toward progressivism. Even Jeb Bush is talking about the wage gap. Elizabeth Warren will continue to gain influence. Love the way she stood up to Obama on TPP.
Marriage equality will be constitutionally guaranteed in the US.
I too agree that there’s a rough patch ahead for the right. In fact they’re stumbling through it already. Insurance and banking corporations are already putting the tough to coastal red states trying to “outlaw” sea level rise. The former big secret about income inequality is blaring from every outlet but Fox, and not a day goes by when there isn’t some news blurb about corporations pushing us toward feudalism.
Full marriage equality and federally legal marijuana.
- Backlash against the wave of anti-intellectualism that is sweeping our nation
- The US joining the world community and coming up at least halfway to the standards of other industrialized nations
- Possible coup or civil war in the US in order to make the above things happen
- Possible fracturing of the US into two nations as it was in the early 1860s in order to avoid open hostilities
After great catastrophes, WW3, famines & plagues brought on by climate control, our whole world will shake with destruction. If we have 10 years left here of “normal life”, I will be surprised.
The U.S. will be so in debt that it will be taken over by Communist China and their ally Russia, making us a Socialist state, amongst the other countries who have collapsed their power to the NWO.
Exactly how the world wide Freemasons planned it all out from the beginning and Muslim, Socialist, Free Mason Obama has been overruling our U.S. Constitution to make it happen.
(Forgot one…)
- Advances in genetics and prosthetics will force humanity to deal with a whole new breed of transhuman bioethics that were previously thought to be only theoretical concerns present in science fiction. Is it okay to get a perfectly healthy arm surgically removed and replaced with a stronger one? Should enhancements like cybereyes with thermographic vision be limited solely to the military?
If we’re smart, we’ll realize that allowing companies to pay substandard wages and then letting the tax payers pick up the bill for welfare and other government support is bs, and demand that minimum wages increases. We’ll be willing to pay a little more for our excesses so that Americans that are willing to work hard can support their families in a way that one of the richest countries in the world can be proud of.
Severe drought, wildfires, mass extinction, lol
I’m kind of cynical. I think we’re moving slow. And stupid people would hinder us. In fact I’m writing a sci-fi satire about Earth in 3,000 AD. And it looks. . . . nearly exactly the same as it does now. Of course that’s to the extreme, but I’m just trying to make a statement.
I have a feeling most advances will be in medicine. Surgeons will do very little aside from operating lasers and other robotics to do surgeries.
I’ve actually been talking to my boss about this amazing new biochemical development in something called CRISPR. I haven’t looked much into it yet but he says that right now it’s kind of only known in the biochem/molecular bio world, but when it will reach out to the world the government will definitely have a hassle with it and stir controversy.
Right now I don’t believe any nation will have the cajones to actually start a WW3. After having gone through two world wars and a major nuclear standoff, I think everyone’s turned passive-aggressive. North Korea always makes threats but I see them as just angry Youtube comments.
Society-wise, the usual stuff like equality of genders and sexual orientation. I think in the far future though the next social challenge would be redefining marriage, if it’s even something that the government or law should step in.
I think eventually marijuana will be as open season as cigarettes.
Hopefully we’ll have better roads. I read up on something called solar-powered roadways. Those were cool. If it will fly or is practical, I have no idea. But it would definitely be something good. Instead of painting the roadways with the appropriate traffic signs, they’re just all electronic or whatever and change according to what’s going on.
Someone with the right mixture of autism and normal brain function will be born; and with them, the world will glimpse the potential next stage in human evolution.
I think we are seeing movement on the legalization of same-sex marriage on the Federal level in the next decade, perhaps much sooner.
And probably the same for the legalization of Marijuana in a majority of states within the decade.
Oh, and a female President.
A significant population shift away from the American west as people & businesses move north & east in search of water (think of it as a reverse Dust Bowl migration.)
Increasing acceptance of gay marriage & abortion across the northern & western states, couples with complete legalization of Marijuana at the Federal level will drive the southern Bible Belt states to split off & form their own theocratic dictatorship. My personal take on this? Good riddance.
Self driving electric cars will begin to dominate America’s highways, with current convenience stores increasingly replacing gas pumps with charging stations.
Oh, @Esedess! I came up with the thought that some autism mutation was the trigger that tipped us over into humans.
@sahID that’s a really good answer. But the possibility of the red states leaving is remote regardless of their irritation at anything hinting of progress. The truth is that you will die of old age before you discover a red place in the country that
doesn’t receive more in benefits than it contributes in revenues. Secession would mean the new “confederacy” would replace Latin America as the leading source of illegal immigration. The great irony around our red brethren is that they are by far the greatest beneficiaries of all the social benefits about which they perpetually whine.
@sahID The water thing is only a problem in California. Those of us in the Pacific Northwest are perfectly hydrated, thank you.
Also, @stanleybmanly is sadly correct; if we had another “Dust Bowl”, those most affected would be in Red states where they would adamantly refuse to move. They would blame Liberals and say that the drought is a sign of God’s displeasure at tolerating the existence of homosexuality. Or rather, they would get more vocal about it; they do it already.
@Esedess @Dutchess_III Yes, I am the future of humanity.
I think we will see the start of a moderate Muslim movement. There have been a fair number of Muslims migrating to Western nations. They are going to become more secularized and wishing to get along, while still retaining their faith. The various Muslim extremist groups are not going to accomplish much. If any of them come to power, they are going to have a hard time holding onto it due to the resentment they create. They are fighting against the tide of history.
@Brian1946
“Marriage equality will be constitutionally guaranteed in the US.”
Whoops- that happened this decade, not the next one.
I think they might have 3 year trial marriages before life long ones. Like they do in Mexico.
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