2019

OMG. I got so much done today. Far from the normally chilled out, lazy Sunday I usually have, I woke up bright and early and got on with it. Now, 14 hours later, I'm so exhausted.

The job isn't done, but I made a significant dent in it. Another two or three days now, and I can put my feet up. I can also relax and watch Christmas roll in.

The Canadian Rockies as viewed from Lake Minnewanka
Unfortunately I won't be going to the Canary Islands for the rest of winter as I once hoped. Apart from the new Brexit worries following the uppercut Boris delivered to Jeremy, I've also encountered some unexpected expenses that have shrunk my budget significantly.

So, despite an invitation that would have included free accommodation, I've decided to hunker down and hibernate with the bears.

2020

The year 2020 is all the rage. Truth be told, I'm not particularly excited or not about it. It's just another year really. I realise that people attribute special significance to the turning of a decade. I remember the turn of this millennium and what a large fuss was made about that.

2020, is even more special I guess because of the symmetry of the date. The last time this happened was a century ago at 1919.

What fascinates me, however, is how 2020 used to be this distant future date. So much so, that many long-term plans where set with the deadline of some time in 2020. "Free education for all by 2020". "Poverty eradication by 2020". "Constant electricity by 2020". And so on.

It seemed so far away, but sounded so cool and futuristic, that I think people subconsciously thought the date would never come. Well, here we are, 2020 is at our doorstep. Most of those projects of course have or are going to fail, or at least won't meet the deadline.

2040

As you can imagine, many of the above projects had their deadlines moved halfway through this decade to a more realistic (and less accountable) date of 2040. How funny.

Talking of which, I've been thinking of how life would be in 2040, if we make it there. Yes, it is a possibility that humanity may be no more by that date. There are currently many events capable of make that the case. Nuclear war is one. A meteorite impact is another. We could even be taken out by a virus.

But, if we do make it, what would life be like? It's not too far in the future, so many of the things that will be mainstream then are probably already being used/tested by cutting edge folk. Virtual reality will be the norm then I think, as will be 3D printing.

Geopolitically speaking, I think we are going to see a significant shift in power eastward to China. That is no surprise, they've been laying down the foundation for decades now. I think by 2040, the fruits of that labour will ripen.

I predict that an African country, or some kind of African regional union, will acquire nuclear capability - either energy or weapons. Said unit will also move significantly upwards in terms of geopolitical and economic power.

There are some major moves being made right now to drop some of the phoney borders between African countries in order to conglomerate into larger units that actually have a chance to compete internationally. God knows, they have the land, natural resources and manpower as well as a majority youth population to make it happen.

Nationalism, Protectionism, Automation and Depopulation

In the West, on the other hand, I think the next 20 years will see a bit of a difficult time. The shift to the political right will result in more nationalism across the board and many countries start to look more inwards.

The post world war bonds that were formed that have given Europe (and the European diaspora) an economic advantage will be broken, giving other regions the opportunity to fill the power vacuum. China, basically, will be the sole beneficiary of this.

Europe will thus become less attractive to economic migrants, as such, the population will stabilise in the next 20 years and drop drastically 50-100 years from now. This new Europe, or at least the collection of separate walled-up nations, with their low populations but high technological advancements will replace human labour with robotics.

The robots will make the ultra-low immigration perfectly fine, but will create a middle-class welfare state where there are basically no jobs at all even for the very few people looking to work.

[One end result could be that AI could reach singularity, take over the robots and kill all the humans]

Of course this is way into the future - 100 years or so, but by 2040 this new word will be well on its way.

---

3030

Dystopia and The End

A new robot prime minister of London (yes London would have split from the rest of England by then) will decide to recolonise the world in honour of Queen Elizabeth 2 (Yes she's still alive. Cryogenics + Longevity science breakthroughs). The AI army will be launched to instantly take over the globe when;

• Half of them will immediately turn their guns towards London, and the rest of Europe and nuke everyone. See, the original program had been hacked and replaced with Sinophilic (Chinese loving) code way back in 2020. The Chinese knew this day would come. Sadly for them though, half of the AI/Robots had been secretly built to be loyal to the queen, so they go ahead and nuke all of Asia.
• On hearing this imminent danger, the capital city of Africa, Wakanda, shields the continent with a forcefield. An African visionary had initiated the construction of Wakanda in early 2020. She envisaged a future where Africa would need such a city even though she herself never lived to see the day. Unfortunately, traitors amongst them had already let in some European AI, which remotely received the order and released poison gas within the forcefield and kill everyone in Africa.
• People living in coastal cities in North and Central America had already been wiped out decades before by the effects of Climate Change. The ice caps had melted halfway, raising water levels and intensifying hurricanes. The surviving few in South America had been killed by the mishap when King Donald Trump the 8th, Emperor of the Americas, wanted revenge. He decided to nuke Africa for "sending America hurricanes for centuries". He hit the wrong button and nuked himself and South America instead.
• The only survivors of World War 6 are the descendants of the hippies that moved to an isolated Pacific volcanic island near Fiji. The island, being volcanic, is very high altitude so is immune to the rising sea levels. They left from parts of Western Canada way back in year 2076, because they where sick and tired of AI life and 3D printed fast food. Being vegan, they had developed immunity to all diseases. They are what's left to repopulate the scorched earth.

---

Goodness me, that escalated quickly :)

I better go grab a coffee and watch some Netflix. Probably nothing SciFi, for my own good haha.

What are you looking forward to in 2020? What do you think the world will be like in 2040?

---

Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé

All copy and photos are original content by me.
© adetorrent.com