Skip to main content

Three Scenarios of the Future

About two years ago, in 2003, The Brian Lehrer show asked listeners to send in three scenarios for the future, and I, along with many others, e-mailed Brian's show with our predictions. Although I hate to admit to having been wrong, it's obvious that my negative, dystopian vision is the scenario that triumphed. In my defense, the style that it was written in is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and that it expresses more optimism than an actual prediction.

Utopia:

The US population realizes that the Republican agenda only serves the wealthy and connected, so everyone votes for the Greens. We become a humane and educated civilization, focused on ridding the US of its evils, as well as working toward a more equitable society for all.

Dystopia:

The Republican agenda becomes deeply ingrained, and besides US conquest of the world, the Bush administration formally implements a special incentive for economic growth - no taxes for the wealthy - amnesty for any CEO convicted of a crime, and classification as treasonous any criticism of the present administration.

Reality:

The US population realizes the folly of the Republican agenda, its militarism and money-serving ideology, and proceeds to bypass major media and moneyed interests, to replace the Republican agenda with one more equitable and productive.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Third Edition

Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, Third Edition by Geert Hofstede My rating: 4 of 5 stars A detailed and fascinating review of Hofstede's dimensions, by the researcher himself, showing broad high-level insights into history and culture, although a bit tedious, as it often describes in detail relationships many of us implicitly understand. View all my reviews

Global Warming and Methane Reduction

I was an ovolactovegetarian for several years in my twenties, in the late 1980's, but the lack of convenient food sources, social pressure, and mild athletic anemia, pushed me to adopt more meat-oriented diet. Also, being an insulin-dependent diabetic, eating low-fat, low-carbohydrate protein sources reduced my need for injections. Over time, I have returned to vegetarianism, although my reasons are grounded in self-interest and concern for the environment. My energy consumption is relatively low, as I live in a major city and very selectively use automobiles for transportation. Lately though, I have been reminded that domesticated animals are large contributors to global warming (methane creation) and inefficient protein producers (4 to 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat). Additionally, vegetarianism, and related calorie reduction, are associated with increased longevity. Both have pushed my back to vegetarianism. Regardless of the history, vegetarianism is a better c...

Daily Fantasy Fools

The NY Times ran a piece on daily fantasy sports , of which I felt the need to say something: #1: The skilled and privileged taking advantage of the stupid and the ill. #2: I remember being disgusted after reading how a startup founder for Box targeted the biggest losers on a poker site to raise 100K for his venture. Well, you could think him smart, or you could think him corrupt, taking advantage of the stupid and addicted, but regardless, do you want to buy anything from him, knowing that his path to success is based on taking advantage of others? Eventually, that means taking advantage of you...