The Next One Hundred Years

[FirstAscent]

Where do you see things headed over the next one hundred years? I don't just mean year 2111, but all the years between now and then. Given the way things are, what scenarios do you see playing out?

How should things be by 2111, and all the intervening years? What is important? What are the means to get there?

Feel free to discuss and debate with others after addressing the questions above. You needn't feel compelled to describe all the aspects of humanity and the Earth, but at least the points which are important to you.

[Anonymous]

People and culture as a whole will finally realize that Keynesianism and Authoritarian regimes are not effective means to wholly address societal desires.

[FirstAscent]

People and culture as a whole will finally realize that Keynesianism and Authoritarian regimes are not effective means to wholly address societal desires.

And those societal desires will result in what?

[Anonymous]

People and culture as a whole will finally realize that Keynesianism and Authoritarian regimes are not effective means to wholly address societal desires.

And those societal desires will result in what?

Value. Your question is very broad.

[ElectricMucus]

-optimistic
Progress in molecular machinery introduces a post-scarcity society.
Open source philosophy flattens hierarchy and makes production and information decentralized.

-realistic
Progress increases only at academic level while nations struggle with the death of their monetary systems.

-pessimistic
Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

[Anonymous]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

[ElectricMucus]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

Well you can still get the seeds you want and even order them online, so there is still hope.

[Ekaros]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

So corporations has gained value on this? What about society as whole, will it benefit from value which certain group has achieved and controls?

[Anonymous]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

Well you can still get the seeds you want and even order them online, so there is still hope.

Not really. Food production is only sufficiently profitable through means of mass production. If you dodge the patents and make substantial profits from production, your facilities will be raided and government force will be used against you. Food production will be continued to be held hostage until these patents and other stifling legislation are lifted.

[Anonymous]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

So corporations has gained value on this? What about society as whole, will it benefit from value which certain group has achieved and controls?

Society doesn't gain value from this. You can ask the governments why they are enabling the corporations through these laws.

[Ekaros]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

So corporations has gained value on this? What about society as whole, will it benefit from value which certain group has achieved and controls?

Society doesn't gain value from this. You can ask the governments why they are enabling the corporations through these laws.

Because they are paid to do so? Or atleast only opinions they hear is once supporting it.

So how could society gain value, in best way and how it should be distributed?

[Anonymous]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

So corporations has gained value on this? What about society as whole, will it benefit from value which certain group has achieved and controls?

Society doesn't gain value from this. You can ask the governments why they are enabling the corporations through these laws.

Because they are paid to do so? Or atleast only opinions they hear is once supporting it.

So how could society gain value, in best way and how it should be distributed?

Yes, government officials are paid out to do so. What else is a monopoly on force going to be used for? To some how protect the people from their own irrational greed, when said greed is optimal at exploiting such monopolies in the first place?

Society can gain value when their is no monopoly on order and rules to exploit. People will have equal a opportunity to start their own crops, free of artificial restrictions and benefits.

[ercolinux]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

Well you can still get the seeds you want and even order them online, so there is still hope.

Not really. Food production is only sufficiently profitable through means of mass production. If you dodge the patents and make substantial profits from production, your facilities will be raided and government force will be used against you. Food production will be continued to be held hostage until these patents and other stifling legislation are lifted.

And don't forget that lot of seeds are engineered to make good productions on the first year only, so that you don't "refresh" the seeds every year  the production will drop drastically

[RodeoX]

I am sad to predict a century of war that will make last century look like a snowball fight. The oil wars have begun, next it's water. Wait till you see what thirsty people will do to win.

[skittixch]

2011 - present. The global financial system has begun its unparalleled descent, social unrest, air of revolution.

2021 - The calls for revolution are muted subversively by suicided activists. Nano-technology developed by the flourishing private war industry also plays a part in assassinations to mask the cause of death of activists/judges/politicians.  This will be a steady/increasing erosion of those who support human rights which stand in the way of a cheap end product.  Evolution will respond as directed.  Science will be harnessed to better product design/capability, and the impetus of science that is the desire to "decode the unknown" will become a small-scale, subversive, and dangerous act. The internet will begin splintering off into personal server space powered by plug computers owned by each individual. Most of your appliances will have some internet connectivity, if, for now, only on a trivial scale. Simultaneously, we'll be seeing the beginning of the 3d printing revolution.  Industry responds by beginning to limit the availability of raw materials to the public, only making them available cheaply for large/corporatized producers.  Some materials will be so cheap and ubiquitous (ie clay/mud/reconstituted trash), a new aesthetic of "cheap" will emerge for homebrew products. This patchwork of cheap/free materials will come to define a generation of angry citizens. As for the historical vehicle of social change, voting is known far and wide as being a very corrupt practice, yet the corruption therein remains mostly vocally unchallenged. Military tensions between Israel and the US become strained as vast numbers of Palestinians are hunted down and slaughtered in the streets of Gaza. Chinese whistleblowers release video of Chinese soldiers in IDF fatigues, as well as chinese policing tech.

2031 - Many US cities including Madison, WI, Detroit, and Los Angeles are smouldering ghost towns undergoing reconstruction by autonomous large-scale 3d printers. Genetically modified algae is being used to suck up the radiation and Cesium delivered by the blasts.  All icons of nationalistic pride remain for posterity and for use in sports/games, but all laws have been synchonized, and the leaders of said countries must all be voted in by the Global Governing Body.  The Earth is a patchwork of interconnected interests all joined at the top.  The "war on violence" and the surveillance technology associated with it has pushed guerilla groups to more insidious methods of extermination including but not limited to the deployment of silent neuro-toxins, electronic systems disruption.  In the public eye, the social climate remains stressed, yet manageable.  Focused efforts in nano-technology, artificial intelligence and robotics have reached a level of maturity that is sweeping the past away rapidly.  Humans see their ever-changing environments with a sense of mutability and detachment. Normal living conditions for the middle-class are 3 or 4 to a kids-room sized space.  Combined families all share the same space in cities, and vast swaths of countryside are autonomously maintained/farmed for maximum profit, while supporting minimum labor costs.  You're likely to be stopped and searched if you attempt to transport yourself far outside your city via automobile.

2041 - Though little in the political atmosphere has changed for the better, the mood begins to lighten, the heavy-handed security presence of previous decades has now blended more seamlessly into our environments.  Nano-tech vaccines are commonplace, subtle changes to the human mind are noticeable with each new generation of childhood vaccine.  Puberty now occurs between the ages of 5-7 for most girls, and 8-10 for most boys.

2051 - I'm

2061 - Tired

2071 - of

2081 - typing

2091 -

2111 - we're all dead

[ElectricMucus]

Not really. Food production is only sufficiently profitable through means of mass production. If you dodge the patents and make substantial profits from production, your facilities will be raided and government force will be used against you. Food production will be continued to be held hostage until these patents and other stifling legislation are lifted.

Well in America the outlook seems to be grim, I admit that. But where I live legislation is pretty reluctant to adopt the emergence of GMO.
Here, in Austria there actually is somewhat of a public uproar when even the possibility of allowing it's usage is discussed.

Still, there is the possibility of EU intervention which seems to get more and more likely but if the current public opinion holds up politics might choose to risk sanctions more than loosing votes..

[AyeYo]

I am sad to predict a century of war that will make last century look like a snowball fight. The oil wars have begun, next it's water. Wait till you see what thirsty people will do to win.

This.  Resource wars are picking up pace and they're becoming increasingly thinly veiled by the day.  Forget 100 years, in 20 years there won't even be excuses made like "spreading democracy" and "liberating the people", it'll just be "we're going to the oil because we need the oil".

American specifically is headed down a grim path.  The wealth gap is widening drastically.  The idiot teabaggers and libertarians that scream for freedom are only shooting themselves in the foot by accelerating this process through the slaughter of social services (just wait, it's coming soon) and tearing down of regulations that many died to establish.  I don't even want to think about where we'll be in ten years, let alone 100 years.

[bonker]

A whole heap of crazy ass shit

[JeffK]

Obliteration of earths biosphere by patented organisms leads to a tyrannical world dictatorship employed by the control of the worlds food supply.

That's already happened. The USDA already upholds patents on crop seeds that are only good for one season. The world's food supply is already ran by corporate oligarchy.

The solution to this is actually more regulation on what can be patented and how, hth

[cryptobard]

It's going to be entertaining to see us all kill each other!