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I disagree that those technological advances will occur as you predict, nor in the time lines you predict. We're nowhere near the situations you describe.
Things like paperless offices and cashless economies have been predicted for decades, and we're nowhere near them.
I think some of the delay you see here in the States (and I mean no disrespect in this statement) is that Boomers are still the prominent age cohort in this country.
In Europe the Boomers have in many ways “ridden off into the sunset” and are enjoying the fruits of their labor in the shadows of retirement.
Boomers here are still the power broking class in government and business....and only now are being eclipsed by Millenials in terms of representation in business in government.
It’s really hard for someone who was in their late 30s/early 40s when the internet showed up to leverage it as a life changing entity in terms of civics.
I’m 36, I’m the last of the non digital generations (I’m technically a Millenial but can remember a life before technology, I’m in that weird “Zenial” sub generation).
The kids behind me are going to leave anyone keeping to an analog life basis of understanding behind. Period. Hard stop.
Hell we went from the Apollo 11 guidance computer to something tens of millions of times more powerful (iPhone6) in what 50 years?
Advancement will only be faster now into the future because the technological baseline has been reset
Oh, never heard that. As I tell my son who looks at me skeptically as a millennial when my sister (1990 baby) is probably closer to his idea of one, the Internet was the big divergence for me between Gen X’ers and millennials. I had the internet since elementary school (Prodigy for the win) and it grew as I did.
On a larger point however, the world is changing but it almost never changes with the speed or direction we like to predict. We will just have to let things play out.
Oh, never heard that. As I tell my son who looks at me skeptically as a millennial when my sister (1990 baby) is probably closer to his idea of one, the Internet was the big divergence for me between Gen X’ers and millennials. I had the internet since elementary school (Prodigy for the win) and it grew as I did.
Bingo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heel82
On a larger point however, the world is changing but it almost never changes with the speed or direction we like to predict. We will just have to let things play out.
I think long term you will have a transition of sorts. The top 20% or so of income earners will continue to pull ahead and the bottom 80% will stagnate. Some neighborhoods will deteriorate as middle class type jobs go away. The lower end neighborhoods will grow in size and will get really bad once automation and machines start doing the min wage jobs. This will happen nationwide.
Sprawl is a real problem, but I agree with you that the Triangle is not an issue. Perfect examples of sprawl include Houston - go there and you will see the problem
I lived there once. This is the truth.
Consider that Houston proper has twice the land area of the already bloated Charlotte limits and nearly 3 times their population. it's not a future that you want.
Labor force participation rates have been dropping for years, but traffic continues to increase.
When most of the population is forced to commute during a 2 hour window at the beginning and end of the workday, that's what creates traffic issues. In most metro areas you don't see gridlock traffic outside of rush hours.
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