Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Generally, 2050 will be unimaginable, just as 2012 was pretty unimaginable 38 years ago, in 1974.
Oh, yeah ... in 1974 they thought everything was going in the tank. Every generation does. Every single generation since time immemorial has complained that the world is going to hell in a handbasket! The next generation just isn't smart/wise/whatever enough to make it!
Yet time marches on, and the world progresses in the long run. So it has always been, so it will always be (right alongside those who insist the societal end is nigh!).
I have no idea what the future may hold, but my current view of the future of the present is not favorable. I do believe the US will be dragged into/start another world conflict. A conflict that will bring unimaginable hell to much of the world. After that, rebuilding will have to take place. I hope the America that emerges from this conflict will be much more stable and centrist than we have now.
Humans are stupid and we never stop ourselves before going off the cliff.
World peace will finally be achieved, as 99% of the population will be wired into the "Alterverse", a extensive computer-brain interface that directly connects to neural pathways for olfaction, vision, hearing, touch, taste, language, locomotion, and proprioception. Over 90% of the population will be permanently hooked up to the Alterverse. Physically, they will be vegetables connected to the computer - brain interface as well as feeding tubes and waste removal equipment, but phenomenologically they will have access to a virtual environment with things totally unimaginable to us. This will also allow for intensive governmental control by a small segment of the population.
Personally, I see us being much less capitalistic in 2050. As robots and AI take over more and more jobs, even the jobs that have yet to be thought up/created, there will be less for people to do. Unless they want a revolution on their hands, the govt will have to make changes to the basic way our society works.
As such, I see the republicans falling out of favor (or drastically changing their platform).
At 2050, I am optimistic. Between here and there, not so much...
Other thoughts?
Well, by then the Boomers would be gone so everything will be on the up and up. Aging Gen Xers and Millennials are far more empathetic and charitable than the old farts and Boomers.
So, politics will be more progressive, America will be more diverse, and science will be more prominent.
In reality, I am neither pessimistic or optimistic. The World is going to end in a few months, anyways
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Dan
About 40% of the population will be speaking Mandarin. About 40% will speak Spanish. The other 20% will speak one of the Southern US dialects because the Southerners will be the last ones fighting the takeover.
Right, too bad the rest of the World is moving more towards speaking English. But I guess America always has to be different, huh? Yeah, right, the South Will Rise Again, huh? Still fighting the Civil War eh.
If the US continues on its current track, I really fear what the country will look like in 2050. As a country, we already owe more money than we will ever be able to pay off. Politicians only care about themselves and do not care at all about the people who elected them. Greed is the dominating force in society today. Until that changes, I really fear what the country will look like in 2050. I hope that I am wrong but I fear that America in 2050 will look like a lot like Mexico does today. The middle class will be completely gone. Some lucky people will live in wealth and opulance, but the majority will live in poverty.
There was a book written in 1997 called "The Fourth Turning" that was spot on in predicting the rough times we're now in the midst of going through.
Quote:
The authors locate today's America as midway through an Unraveling, roughly a decade away from the next Crisis (or Fourth Turning). And they recommend ways Americans can prepare for what's ahead, as a nation and as individuals.
If the coming generation has no reason to believe hard work and playing by the rules will pay off, the powers that be will be forced to deal with a lot of desperate pissed off people. Pandemics from viruses that have developed an immunity from traditional vaccines might knock down the population growth predictions. I predict we'll have the challenge of dealing with unprecedented weather events in unexpected places. We'll have to think out of the box and then some to make it through this critical period.
Just to name a few...
I see an overpopulation problem, a society that no longer interacts on a face to face basis (everything will be virtual), most of the worlds natural resources will be used up, instead of having different races the earth will be one gigantic melting pot where everyone looks the same and has no cultural distinctions. Family values and a traditional family will be a thing of the past, cars will run on a means other than fossil fuels and look like there is a circus coming to town because they will all be the size of a Smart car.
So I guess you can say im pessimistic. I wish I wasnt but in the current state of everything I look back and the world in a whole is going down the toilet, so why am I to think it would get any better. Its only been steadily getting worse....and my fear is that my children will have to live in a society such as that.
I think America in 2050 will be considerably different but not necessarily a worse place to live.
Politically, I think the USA will break apart completely or partially probably long before 2050 hits, possibly during this decade. The USA has been Balkanizing for several decades; you could probably start an entire section at CD on America's political polarization. To be honest, I think it was inevitable that the USA will break apart. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so; whatever countries come out of the former USA will have a lot more say in their internal affairs and so forth. Given the political paralysis and intolerance of today I don't see that as a bad thing.
Economically the USA will be much smaller. Right now the US economy is around $15 trillion or so. I'd expect it to be maybe $7-8 trillion in 2050. The major banks will be gone: Citigroup, BOA, Wells Fargo, Chase, and HSBC probably will go down the drain within a decade due to their insolvency. The domestic automakers I think will still be around but they will be tiny. To give you an idea of how much they'll shrink, Ford, which is probably the strongest of the Detroit 3, will maybe produce an eighth of the cars they make today. I wouldn't be surprised if GM and Chrysler shrink down to making mostly utility and specialty vehicles if they don't break up. The foreign automakers in the USA will probably shrink as well but they'll be the bulk of sales and such for retail customers. As for the rest of the major industries in America, I think that there will be newer competitors alongside Walmart, GE, Cargill, Dell, and so forth. In fact, I think that most of the large US companies that survive will be minor players in their respective fields. Think of Walmart shrinking from about maybe 2,000,000 employees worldwide down to around 200,000 or less.
Socially, I expect the former United States to be more regional in their political game plans. I don't think New York (or the equivalent, states can break apart too) is going to worry too much about what the West Coast states feel on every issue. I don't think there will be any serious interstate conflict but I would expect some border hostilities, especially between states with mutually opposing ideologies (the California and Arizona border is the best example I can think of). Otherwise, I'd expect it to be relatively quiet. It's possible that some of the former United States may join other alliances, who knows.
Pessimistic outlook. Continuing wage stagnation for the 99 % due to globalization, corporate greed and technology. Most wealth held by the 1% elite. Continuing political gridlock in resolving national debt will finally result in catastrophic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Private pensions plans will a thing of the past. Infrastructure will crumble.
Global warming, diminishing water resources and the escalating price of oil will lead to soaring food prices. As water and electricity bills soar there will be an ever growing migration out of the major cities in the Southwest.
At some point during this time span terrorists will finally obtain nuclear and biological weaponry and stage a devastating attack that will far eclipse the terror of 9-11. Our military will launch an even deadlier nuclear strike against the country/countries that harbored the terrorists.
A growing number of Americans fed up with a dysfunctional state will start a network of interconnected agricultural communes in the Pacific Northwest and the East to sustain themselves.They will disavow any connection to the Federal Government and will refuse to continue paying an ever growing tax burden.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
