NationStates Jolt Archive

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
where will our civil rights stand?
will we still be in iraq?
where will the economy be?
will we still be the superpower we are today?

i just want to see people's thoughts on this out there.

America will be a little further from Europe, a little closer to Asia, but not by much.

The first fusion power plant will come online, rendering energy needs moot forever.

The white house will lose Canada.

As in, can no longer find it.

"I'm sure I put it somewhere near Alaska", George W-bot will say to his choir of androids...

Oh, gosh, what a horrible thought.

Environment? No way to know now. I think that we'll have wizened up in time to at least cut our losses. Emissions from cars will be zilch, but that is mainly because the Arabs ran out of oil.

Civil rights? They'll be expanded. Gay marriage will be accepted.

We will not be in Iraq. Either the Iraqis will settle down, at which point the US will leave, or by 2050, they'll have killed each other off, and Iraq is now Greater Kurdistan.

The economy? No way to tell

Will we still be the superpower we are today? Again, no way to tell.

Oh, gosh, what a horrible thought.
Terrible and lame.

I do my best.

It'll change, but many things will be similar to the way they are now. We'll be one of the major economic centers with a vibrant and advanced economy, we'll still be a leading center of innovation, our lives will be longer and healthier, and we'll have access to a variety of new technologies we can only dream about now. The environment will probably be in vastly better shape, and our society will have seen significant changes in social and political policy. All in all, things will be significantly better in 2050 than they are now.

There will be some significant challenges along the way, like fossil fuel depletion, global warming, Medicare/SS, the deficit, geopolitical tensions and the demographic gap, but nevertheless I feel that in 2050 we will be quite well off and likely far better off than we are now.

"I'm sure I put it somewhere near Alaska", George W-bot will say to his choir of androids...

Oh, gosh, what a horrible thought.

If we have a sentient robot president by 2050, I will be so overjoyed that I can't put it in to words. That would mean that not only are we capable of developing the technology, but also of finding the egalitarian spirit necessary to recognize them as citizens.

Even if it is a robotic version of W. :p

If we have a sentient robot president by 2050, I will be so overjoyed that I can't put it in to words. That would mean that not only are we capable of developing the technology, but also of finding the egalitarian spirit necessary to recognize them as citizens.
It would also mean every programmer in the world was out of business.

...

I'll get started, I suppose. :P

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?

We will still be here, and "global warming" would be regarded as a natural cycle in the Earth Climate Changes, when global temps start going back down in 2028.

where will our civil rights stand?

Gays will be able to marry and have children.


will we still be in iraq?

The entire Middle East will be turned into Glass after a second horrible attack is inflicted upon the Western World, at a much larger scale than 9/11. At which point the Western world will get tired of the Middle East, and Islam and decide to hell with this.


where will the economy be?

We will still rule the earth, and the dollar will make a rebound.

will we still be the superpower we are today?

Yes, but China will rival us.

My opinion is that
Ecconimy: down to rock bottom, since oil and gas are gone, and US can't afford all the solder an more, everything is chaotic and Americans revolts(Another Empire fallen a hundred to go)
Enviroment: Since there is that amount of car, after one year, well lets no go there.
Population: 1 million or so, after the war
Border: same
Canada: If Steven Harper is still in charge their in trouble.
Mexico: well since I haven't lived there, no idea
China will probably out last you.
Space weapon will be developed so no one is safe

By that time we will have succumbed to the Red Threat.

By that time we will have succumbed to the Red Threat.

I have a disturbing feeling that will be some kind of pop-music group rather than any kind of real problem.

There will be some significant challenges along the way, like fossil fuel depletion, global warming, Medicare/SS, the deficit, geopolitical tensions and the demographic gap, but nevertheless I feel that in 2050 we will be quite well off and likely far better off than we are now.
You don’t make any sense at all. You list the things that will ultimately drag our society down and retain optimism?

I look upon the future with resigned pessimism.

Question is, will the world still stand in 2050. By the way its running, we'll be in WWIII by 2020 and total nuclear warefar by 2025.

where will our civil rights stand?
Things like gay marriage and adoption will be allowed; some other western taboo will have taken its place though and things will be roughly the same. The government will continue getting larger, with neither party actually opposing this, and americans are going to be much more closely monitored as they move, work, communicate and use the internet.

will we still be in iraq?
Probably not, but we'll still be nation building in the middle east and sending aid to the weak governments we've set up there. Maybe the same'll start happening in places like africa and south america.

where will the economy be?
On a national scale, I'd guess much as it is now. Federal deficits are probably going to lead to decades-long strings of program cuts, but rather than create a freer market it's going to cause a lot of corporate expansion, mergers, buy outs and monopolies. America as a whole will be richer, but normal americans will be where they are now and the wealthy mega-rich will be, well, richer and more numerous. I think we'll start to see a new kind of class system emerge as america's billionaires and megamillionaires begin reaching significant numbers, and live very differently to how the common american will.

will we still be the superpower we are today?
Militarily, perhaps, but economically one or two other countries will equal it. Standards of living may actually end up being higher elsewhere.

where will the environment stand?
This is the only one I can't decide on - either it'll continue becoming more important, or soon everyone'll just shrug their shoulders and say "well, there's damage already done, let's just keep going", and we'll just attempt to adapt as climates change, a large fraction of plants and animals die out, etc. I don't like this scenario, but sooner or later people are gonna realise that they need to make some major changes to how we live and how the economy functions (mainly with regards to packaging, waste, efficiency, etc), and on top of that accept that some damage we've already done just can't reverse at this stage - I find it hard to see people, en masse, rising to that challenge.

When an alternative to oil comes about, and about the time the world stops producing any significant quantities of the stuff, the US will go flat broke and be unable to afford any kind of foreign policy that doesn't involve three guys with briefcases.

As far as civil rights goes, we'll be way ahead of where we are now.

World power? not so much. I think the EU and China will vie for that title.

2050... 43 years from now... I'll be 63... h'mmm.

Well, I'll be optimistic.

2050:

The currently elected president of the United States is a woman.

The secretary of state is a man and also a transvestite.

Rather than 'In God We Trust' the coin of the realm now reads 'In People We Trust'.

The US has cut back on military spending, it already has enough atomic
bombs to intimidate the hell out of everybody anyway, though has increased spending on intelligence, which relies heavily on AI constantly scouring the net.

Speaking of AI, the first pseudo-sapient AI have come onto the market, with real people personalities! The software is free, the hardware is not. Some people are beginning to worry about giving them rights, but so far those people are considered silly, at least in America.

Copyright laws have been repealed because they became unenforceable. Artists, writers and programmers live off of commissions, donations, or merchandising.

As for the merchandise, ever since China began to have effective labour unions, merchandise has started coming into America with the label 'Made in Africa'.

People are still fighting in the Middle East.

The world stage is dominated by China, America, and the EU, but India has aspirations.

If we have a sentient robot president by 2050, I will be so overjoyed that I can't put it in to words. That would mean that not only are we capable of developing the technology, but also of finding the egalitarian spirit necessary to recognize them as citizens.

Even if it is a robotic version of W. :p

http://www.citypages.com/blogmedia/canderson/robotbush.jpg

Hey, even present-day Dubya loves to do the robot!

Hmmm...

2050... 43 years from now... I'll be 63... h'mmm.

Well, I'll be optimistic.

2050:

The currently elected president of the United States is a woman.

The secretary of state is a man and also a transvestite.

Rather than 'In God We Trust' the coin of the realm now reads 'In People We Trust'.

The US has cut back on military spending, it already has enough atomic
bombs to intimidate the hell out of everybody anyway, though has increased spending on intelligence, which relies heavily on AI constantly scouring the net.

Speaking of AI, the first pseudo-sapient AI have come onto the market, with real people personalities! The software is free, the hardware is not. Some people are beginning to worry about giving them rights, but so far those people are considered silly, at least in America.

Copyright laws have been repealed because they became unenforceable. Artists, writers and programmers live off of commissions, donations, or merchandising.

As for the merchandise, ever since China began to have effective labour unions, merchandise has started coming into America with the label 'Made in Africa'.

People are still fighting in the Middle East.

The world stage is dominated by China, America, and the EU, but India has aspirations.

You've thought about this. Havn't you?

You've thought about this. Havn't you?

Mebbe a little...

America will be a little further from Europe, a little closer to Asia, but not by much.
Continental drift huh? :p

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
where will our civil rights stand?
will we still be in iraq?
where will the economy be?
will we still be the superpower we are today?

i just want to see people's thoughts on this out there.

I think the environment will be ok, the Earth will be in the process of self-correcting, which will lead us into another mini-ice age by the next century. This, of course, will cause a huge die-off among humans, which will effect the civil rights of some positively and leave others worse off than before. Most of the human race will be in the process of moving to warmer climates, so yes, we will still be in Iraq - the battle will not, at this point, be about religion or oil, but about survival. The economy, because the California economy final went into the toilet, will suck. There will be no superpowers, we will be too busy fighting to survive.

We will still be here, and "global warming" would be regarded as a natural cycle in the Earth Climate Changes, when global temps start going back down in 2028.

Gays will be able to marry and have children.

The entire Middle East will be turned into Glass after a second horrible attack is inflicted upon the Western World, at a much larger scale than 9/11. At which point the Western world will get tired of the Middle East, and Islam and decide to hell with this.

We will still rule the earth, and the dollar will make a rebound.

Yes, but China will rival us.
There is a HUGE crack in your crystall balls. :p

Continental drift huh? :p

I thought no one would notice. :D

I thought no one would notice. :D
I have been a drifter all my life, :D whilst travelling 1,000 miles an hour even when I am sleeping.

Easier to post and respond point by point to this rather than type from scratch.

2050... 43 years from now... I'll be 63... h'mmm.

Well, I'll be optimistic.

I'll be 67, and I'll be pessimistic. :p

2050:

The currently elected president of the United States is a woman.

Certainly possible, she might even be in her second term.

The secretary of state is a man and also a transvestite.

While we might be open to the idea here in America by that point, the same cannot necessarily be said of every other nation, so I don't think that such a person will hold that position, or any other that deals primarily with foreign relations, anytime in my lifetime.

Now something more domestic, like Sec. of Treasury or Attorney General, is certainly possible, in fact likely.

Rather than 'In God We Trust' the coin of the realm now reads 'In People We Trust'.

I see the U.S moving away from secularism myself, so I don't see this as likely.

The US has cut back on military spending, it already has enough atomic bombs to intimidate the hell out of everybody anyway, though has increased spending on intelligence, which relies heavily on AI constantly scouring the net.

While the U.S will probably roll back it's military in terms of numbers, I think it will be MORE expensive as more advanced technologies become available.

Just look at how the cost of your average fighter jet has skyrocketed since the '70s. Not to mention all the advanced technologies likely to be incorporated that we don't even know to enough about to speculate on.

Speaking of AI, the first pseudo-sapient AI have come onto the market, with real people personalities! The software is free, the hardware is not. Some people are beginning to worry about giving them rights, but so far those people are considered silly, at least in America.

I myself am very pessimistic that we will ever develop true AI, but I've been wrong plenty of times before.

Copyright laws have been repealed because they became unenforceable. Artists, writers and programmers live off of commissions, donations, or merchandising.

I'll buy that one.

As for the merchandise, ever since China began to have effective labour unions, merchandise has started coming into America with the label 'Made in Africa'.

Eh...I think Russia, the former SSRs, and Brazil are more likely than Africa. Africa has so many problems it's going to take more than a few decades and some more money thrown at them to solve them all.

People are still fighting in the Middle East.

My guess is there will be a big schism in Islam sometime in the next 30-40 years...so I'll buy that one too. Whether Israel/Palestine is still an issue is something I won't speculate on.

The world stage is dominated by China, America, and the EU, but India has aspirations.

The EU and America will still be global players...although Islam's influence in Europe and the effects it will have are something that cannot be predicted, especially if my predicted schism comes to pass.

I don't think China will be a world player by 2050...I see them reunifying with Taiwan amicably by 2020, only to see the Tawianese democratic influence, coupled with growing wealth without political or civil rights, result in an overthrow of the current government. Whether China can emerge from that event without factional warfare afterwards and still remain a world player is questionable.

They'll probably be right about where they are now, I expect.

India, however, should be a major player...they already have democracy, and their economy, while not at this moment as powerful as China's, has less inefficiency, more amicable ties to western interests, and in many economic areas a skilled labor market that rivals or exceeds China.

And don't count out Brazil...they're practically energy independent, which will be important in the coming decades. Russia should be finally shaking off the dust too...they're down, but certainly not out.

I expect 2050 will look a lot like today...which is somewhat depressing actually. :p

There is a HUGE crack in your crystall balls. :p

Eh you never know. If the United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, basically every country in the Western World is attacked on a massive scale by terrorist in the Middle East, we could see some nukes flying.

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
where will our civil rights stand?
will we still be in iraq?
where will the economy be?
will we still be the superpower we are today?

i just want to see people's thoughts on this out there.

Oceania. 2050.

Environment: No such thing.
Civil Rights: Plenty of distractions.
Iraq: Airstrip Two.
Economy: Booming for top 1%.
Superpower status: Yes.

All I can say is, I weep for the future.

Eh you never know. If the United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, basically every country in the Western World is attacked on a massive scale by terrorist in the Middle East, we could see some nukes flying.

I seriously doubt it. I don't think a terrorist organization could develope the necessary resources to enact that kind of massive attack without being noticed and taken partially or wholly out by legitimate governments, quite honestly. Consider how 9/11 was considered to be an extremely major victory for terrorists. I would expect something a little bigger, MAYBE a nuclear detonation, but certainly not on the scale you're talking.

And even with that kind of scale, no nukes will fly, unless we have a truly idiotic and/or insane leader.

The first fusion power plant will come online, rendering energy needs moot forever.
No, I don't think we'll ever see that within our lifetimes. People have been working on the problem of getting more energy out of a fusion reaction than is required to initiate and sustain it for decades. Right now the money is mostly going into the wrong programs (tokamaks). The only thing to seemingly make it to break-even is a hydrogen bomb and that's kinda useless as a power source.

I'll be 67, and I'll be pessimistic. :p

You're predictions seem quite plausible, and as pessimistic goes, not that bad.
I prefer to be the optimist though, it's more fun. :D

On a related note:
Who here has heard of Vernor Vinge's technological singularity?
Who thinks it's plausible?
Who thinks it's just a technotheistic version of the Rapture?

I seriously doubt it. I don't think a terrorist organization could develope the necessary resources to enact that kind of massive attack without being noticed and taken partially or wholly out by legitimate governments, quite honestly. Consider how 9/11 was considered to be an extremely major victory for terrorists. I would expect something a little bigger, MAYBE a nuclear detonation, but certainly not on the scale you're talking.

And even with that kind of scale, no nukes will fly, unless we have a truly idiotic and/or insane leader.

Or unless the people demand it and those in powers want to get re-elected.

[QUOTE=Zydecia;12193285]where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
where will our civil rights stand?
will we still be in iraq?
where will the economy be?
will we still be the superpower we are today?

[QUOTE]

1 and 2, down the drain.
3. Yes. Exxon and Texaco will, so will US soldiers.
4.In PR China, India and Brazil. Oh, and CEO meetings at the Cayman Islands.
5.No. Military, very likely, but not economically or demographically.

1 and 2, down the drain.
3. Yes. Exxon and Texaco will, so will US soldiers.
4.In PR China, India and Brazil. Oh, and CEO meetings at the Cayman Islands.
5.No. Military, very likely, but not economically or demographically.

1/2 Agreed
3 Also agreed
4 Not agreed. China maybe, but more likely not. In the near future (10-12 years) yes, but its economy is too centralized, its consumer base too large, and too much of its population below the poverty line. More Russia/Japan. Brazil, big fish, small pond and India, perhaps, if China doesn't screw them over in the future.

are you talking about north america or south america?

Eh you never know. If the United States, Great Britain, France, Spain, basically every country in the Western World is attacked on a massive scale by terrorist in the Middle East, we could see some nukes flying.

As much as you would like to think so, 3,000 deaths isn't really that massive an attack.

And no, nuclear genies don't get out of their bottles that easily. There were plenty of blood drinkers screaming for glassing the middle east, never mind which country, after 9/11. That didn't happen, but primarily because petrodollars have more weight than any number of ignorant rednecks.

I predict inflation...

Oceania. 2050.
Superpower status: Yes.

not if Eastasia have anything to say about it *boo's and hisses at Ingsoc*

1/2 Agreed
3 Also agreed
4 Not agreed. China maybe, but more likely not. In the near future (10-12 years) yes, but its economy is too centralized, its consumer base too large, and too much of its population below the poverty line. More Russia/Japan. Brazil, big fish, small pond and India, perhaps, if China doesn't screw them over in the future.

Russia maybe, lots of heavy industries, lots of good scientists and lots of natural resources - but lots of mafia-style crime and corruption also. (Yea, hark who's talking about mafia and corruption...)
Japan? No way... no natural resources, they'll have to buy their oil from Russia and their steel from China, and sell their products on the Chinese and European market. Looks like Japan is going to go a bit downhill to me.
Brazil is pretty advanced (for a country that was definitely third-world just some years ago) and has natural resources, so I think it will become a major player on the economy chessboard.

Brazil is pretty advanced (for a country that was definitely third-world just some years ago) and has natural resources, so I think it will become a major player on the economy chessboard.

I RP Brazil on another site...they have ALL the pieces they need...now they just need a little less corruption in general and they'll start chugging towards world power status in no time.

Who here has heard of Vernor Vinge's technological singularity?

I have.

Who thinks it's plausible?

I do; it might not occur on such a timeframe, but I do believe there will be a point of no return when it comes to technological advancement.

Who thinks it's just a technotheistic version of the Rapture?

It's more like Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's Omega Point than the Rapture, IMHO, because it's not going to usher in any kind of apocalyptic suffering for the unbelievers.

By 2025 it is expexted that 84% of the world will be in the third world.

This currently stands at 80%

The developing countries of the world, especially in South America and others were there is widespread anti-US feeling, are starting to EDUCATE their people.

If people are educated they will want more.

I don't know if there will be a war or anything, but I think the world will, hopefully, become a better place, with everyone in the world having an equal share of the world's wealth.

However, I think the time before 2050 will see terrible, terrible events by America and the rest of the world until, finally, the world becomes an equal place.
HOPEFULLY!

Before 2050:

America :sniper: Most of the world
HOPEFULLY NOT!

I think it's closer to 2/3 of the world, not 4/5. Hence the expression, "two-thirds world".

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
where will our civil rights stand?
will we still be in iraq?
where will the economy be?
will we still be the superpower we are today?

i just want to see people's thoughts on this out there.
Well, the phrase "shame shit, different year" springs to mind.

where you do see america going in the year 2050?

where will the environment stand?
It will not have changed.


where will our civil rights stand?

They will be virtually nonexistent compared with today. Between eroding civil rights justified by the war on terror and having to compensate for massive internal civil unrest, Every individual citizen will be watched very closely. People will even renounce their citizenship even if they still live in the U.S.


will we still be in iraq?

No. There will be no Iraq as such. By 2050 the country will have splintered and parts of it annexed by its nieghbors.


where will the economy be?

Depends.


will we still be the superpower we are today?

We will have returned to a paper tiger military. Looks impressive but will probably be good for little more than fighting internal civil unrest.

By 2100 if the military hasn't goten back on track the US will fall to invasion by foreign powers who will be after the land for food production, as the US will be too unstable to provide a reliable source of food in any other way.