Posted on 12/17/2010 2:14:01 PM PST by bananaman22
None can foretell the future, and yet the shape of what we face can be shrewdly estimated with enough attention to historical trends; with broad contextual understanding; and with sufficient insight into the character of leaders, their societies, and the structures which define their basis.
These estimates will be tempered by the sudden acts of nature, the sudden emergence of true leadership from unexpected quarters, or key breakthroughs in science. Still, we can hazard reliable views on the shape of the world in, say, a decade — in 2020 — if present trends and characters remain, and on a knowledge of certain baseline levels of wealth and capability which presently exist.
In 2011, the world will probably remain beset by the lingering of the present crisis of currency levels and economic performance. This is essentially a mass psychological crisis, based around the perceptions which create trust, particularly trust in asset values and institutions.
In some respect, historical trends have given populations in modern societies excessive trust in the ability of their institutions to remain operational, untended by their populations. As a result, governments have grown larger and less efficient, and have arrogated to themselves more and more of the resources of societies, thereby inhibiting productivity. At some point, those societies, when beleaguered and impoverished, lose faith in the institutions of governance and leadership succession.
It is possible that the end of the second decade of the 21st Century will see exactly that tipping point, at which faith — a psychological attribute — disappears, and either rigid reaction or anomie and chaos intervene. This forecast is based on the existing performance of most governments of modern economies, but reactions of their societies will vary based on their individual natures, their reserves of wealth, and the degree to which government and leaders can adapt radically to reignite and impart purpose and prosperity to their societies. Full article: The world in 2020
When we predict what the world will look like in 2020 we should pick up the book Russia in 2010 and compare it to what Russia is today.
I have a newsflash for that guy. The tipping point is going to be a lot sooner than 2020.
I think dinosaurs will become extinct.
It’ll still be an oblate spheroid.
Sarah will be winding up her second term.
A geoid.
I see a new age of imperialism coming. The world will be cut into about seven big Empires that will dominate the globe.
1. Russia controlling much of the east Europe,and Middle East
2. Germany Controlling Western Europe and much of North Africa.
3. America controlling, North American continent and Pacific.
4. Brazil Controlling South America
5. China controlling All Asia, Japan, and India.
6. South Africa Controlling All sub Saharan Africa and Middle east.
7. Australia controlling whats left.
My answer: oblate spheroid
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