The state of the world in several years

[Calmy]

I'm the kind of person who isn't very optimistic about the world affairs, anytime something serious happens I'm like "Ok, so what's next?" Either is an international political problem or an economic problem that affects most countries and such.

Is not that I'm unaware nor naive about these kind of news, is just that my line of thinking is on a bigger scale so I can make it look like these problems aren't particularly notorious, example: "Oh, so the stock market has fallen again, what a surprise, is not like is impossible that is gonna recover in the future or something" see? My worries for these problems are low, all the members of the human species are eventually going to die, that's an undeniable fact that no one has ever refuted. But there is something that could concern me, in some ways or others, and that is the state of our planet in several years.

Let us be real folks, in light of seemingly bad news about the mismanagement of resources and the massive consume of objects that use damaging gas to the Ozone, our planet may not be suited or just straight habitable for living organisms in the future, I've read some postulations and theories about how our world will see an increase of the normal temperature, ranging those from the 89 Celsius to 92 in 2100 alone, if we keep our way of living like it is, now, this is just one of the several claims that I have read on the Internet, others postulate that a "Planet Cleaning Time" will make the zones around the Tropic of Capricorn and Cancer totally devastated, with drowned cities and terrain due to the melting of all the ice stored in both the North & South Pole. The zones on earth that will likely not be affected by the "PCT" (Planet Cleaning Time for further use of abbreviations) are those from the Tropics.

That can be proven by comparing the amount of variety and the state of biological resources from those zones compared to the ones around the Capricorn and Cancer tropics, or that's how the postulation goes if my memory does not fails me. So far I have seen some credible situations that may arise assuming that our "modern" society keeps like this, but I don't know how exactly our values and beliefs are going to change over time, or what we will end up using that may actually not compromise the state of Earth in the future.

As before, my views about things about the World aren't certainly my forte nor interest, but I believe that once we reach the point where everything becomes not possible to solve, that's the point where I believe is gonna take more than just effort and determination to escape from that spiral of everlasting problems.

[eclipse]

What, exactly, do you want to discuss? If you simply want to vent, a blog is more suited for such things. Otherwise, please summarize what you want to talk about.

[Calmy]

What, exactly, do you want to discuss? If you simply want to vent, a blog is more suited for such things. Otherwise, please summarize what you want to talk about.

Exactly what I posted, the biological state of the planet in the future, and how our actions will lead our planet in it, be it massive consume of resources, toxic wastes spread through out the nature and such, and how certain places on Earth would affect other territories as a domino effect.

It is not a thread of Global Warming exclusively, rather, it compasses all the possibilities that could lead this planet to its doom or recovery, that's the objective of this thread, I did post this thread in the Serious Discussion because there are places on earth that are so contaminated (Like certain regions of China and India) that it affects the welfare of all the living beings in there, and due to the massive spread of industrialization and technologies that do exhaust some of the earth's resources and materials. I thought this was a good place to discuss it.

If you don't feel this kind of thread should be in the Serious Discussion forum, I may request to move it somewhere else, but I believe that the welfare and the state of the Earth should belong in a Serious Discussion forum, because I noticed that things like War, Armed Conflicts, all of that affects our lives, be it directly or indirectly, and the Earth receives the negative toll from those actions.

Again, if you don't feel this kind of thread should belong in here or its point is difficult to talk to, I'd prefer if it was closed, my apologies for not being clear enough.

[eclipse]

. . .but what exactly are you trying to accomplish with your subject matter? Some sort of solution (we're a video game forum, don't expect anything earth-shaking)? Differing points of view (and what would they be)?

The vibe I'm getting from your post is that you want to tell people something, as opposed to discussing different points of view on a subject. Such things are better suited for a blog. Serious Discussion is NOT a place for a soapbox. If this assumption is wrong, you'll have to explain what kind of discussion you're looking for, because I can't figure it out.

[Calmy]

I would like to know different points of view from the members around here, more specifically, their stances regarding the welfare of their lives and those around them, how do I explain it... I don't expect (as you say) groundshaking solutions that will change the state of our planet, but I want to discuss with people about how they feel about the current situation of our planet, and how should we deal with it in the future.

While my posts do seem to bring a message, it is really not, this is just my stance based on the things I've read on the Internet and Books. All I want to know from people is about what do they think about their lives, what do they think about what humanity has done to reach the point we are now, and how we will deal with it in the future, I just want to know about how people feel about the role us humans has done during these millenniums, do they live in places where contamination is high or that methods to solve those kind of issues has ever taken a start? That's what I want to know.

Essentially, it all amounts as what do they think about the responsibility it takes from being a human, and how earthly problems are related to it. I don't want to post in a blog kind of way about "I'll defend this point" I just want to know how much people care about the Earth's problems and how they correlate to their lives, somehow or other.

Should I change the title to fit more with what I'm looking for, based on what I posted earlier, or just let it be? Sorry if I couldn't get my point across, but that's honestly what I wanted to know, if you don't feel this is the kind of thread worthy for a serious discussion, then I apologize, I explained my reasons earlier as to why I think how big is the responsibility of our acts, and how they lead to several problems (Diseases, Wars, Conflicts, etc.) and ultimately, the place where we live, our planet. But again, I want to know about what people think about that, if this is somehow an issue that can be solved in the long run or not?

That's about it.

[eclipse]

This is a better explanation, and enough that I'll leave this topic here for now.

As for actually answering this, I'll give my usual "it's complicated". If you simply listen to whatever media sources are Big and Popular, it's not gonna look good. If you look at the world from a more historical standpoint, it's actually not too bad. It's been fairly peaceful in the first world (as in, most of us don't wake up to gunfire and pass corpses on the street on a daily basis), vaccines have put quite the punch in diseases that made life hell in the not-too-distant past (don't get me started on that one movement), communication is at levels that were previously unheard of, life expectancy is relatively high, and there's a lot more equality now (as in, I CAN VOTE).

We humans have come a fairly long way, and still have a long way to go. But part of the fun is the journey!

[Stephen the Great]

On 12/4/2016 at 1:04 PM, eclipse said:

As for actually answering this, I'll give my usual "it's complicated". If you simply listen to whatever media sources are Big and Popular, it's not gonna look good. If you look at the world from a more historical standpoint, it's actually not too bad. It's been fairly peaceful in the first world (as in, most of us don't wake up to gunfire and pass corpses on the street on a daily basis), vaccines have put quite the punch in diseases that made life hell in the not-too-distant past (don't get me started on that one movement), communication is at levels that were previously unheard of, life expectancy is relatively high, and there's a lot more equality now (as in, I CAN VOTE).

Seconded in all regards.

On 12/4/2016 at 1:04 PM, eclipse said:

We humans have come a fairly long way, and still have a long way to go. But part of the fun is the journey!

Ah yes, but if there is one thing both the Fire Emblem series and human history have proven, it is that the journey to a better or different state of affairs is often arduous and possibly filled with pain or conflict.

[Shoblongoo]

...I'll offer some passing thoughts on where I see the world in several years...


1) The age of American hegemony is coming to an end.

2) China is going to be the dominant world power of the next century.

3) The shift in world-power from America and the traditional "Western Powers" of Europe to China and East Asia will reduce the global clout of judeo-christian ethics, as applied to political economy and bioethics and the like during the past several centuries of Western dominance over world affairs. 

4) The 19th century saw the birth of industrialization, electricity, and mechanized travel. The early 20th century saw the splitting of the atom, the discovery of DNA, and a world connected by commercial flight; the later half of the century saw the beginnings of spaceflight, first attempts at gene manipulation and cloning, and the advent of the internet as a worldwide form of instant communication + repository of human knowledge and experience. The next great technological revolution of the 21st century will be in the field of biotech. We're on the cusp of being able to do some new and truly remarkable things with the available body of knowledge. Things we've probably had the technical know-how to do for quite some time, but have been hesitant to even attempt what-with bio-ethical concerns and stigmas against 'playing god.'  

We will--in the next century--see attempts to push the boundaries of cloning, gene-splicing, and genetic engineering in ways only previously imagined in sci-fi movies. And as completely as industrialization and the internet, it will change the world.  

 

 

Edited May 23, 2017 by Shoblongoo

[Camus The Dark Knight]

Most of Europe will collapse.

The US Dollar will collapse and be replaced with the Chinese Yuan as the world's reserve currency.

The US' power will greatly diminish due to the collapse of the petro-dollar, growing civil unrest, and another needless war I am sure we will start in an attempt to prevent it.

China will become the next superpower (I honestly believe they are already, but I digress...) marking the fall of the West and rise of the East, something that happens every couple hundred years (it's like a pendulum).

Short of an Ottoman Empire 2.0 the Middle East will remain being an utter disaster.

The rapid spread of Islam will likely start another holy war.

Business moguls will move to wherever is most profitable (Likely Asia)

 

So basically, the same thing that happens every couple hundred years. Nothing new.

[Skynstein]

God help us all if the Chinese become the dominant power.

But that's very likely because they can generate wealth at a much higher rate than us. They're unbound by basic human rights.

[Shoblongoo]

7 hours ago, Cerberus87 said:

God help us all if the Chinese become the dominant power.

But that's very likely because they can generate wealth at a much higher rate than us. They're unbound by basic human rights.

…I’m less-then-bothered by the idea of  a world where China is the hegemonic power, and the East Asian model replaces the Anglo-American model as the growth-path-to-be-followed by developing nations.

I say this as an American: my country is on the wrong track right now, our example is not one to be followed, and it would probably be best for the international community if new leaders emerged to lead where we have faltered.

China’s human rights record is admittedly atrocious. But its modernizing; moving in the right direction.  China today is basically 2 generations removed from the starting point of emerging as an urban-industrial power from a primarily rural society of artisans and rice-farmers. You look at where we were 2 generations after the industrial revolution—segregation and interracial marriage bans, child labor, no minimum wage laws or workplace safety regulations, anti-sodomy laws + classification of homosexuality as a mental illness, unregulated railroad and steel and oil monopolies and rule by industrialist oligarchs—its not clear we were any better.

We grew our way out of it. China’s rate of development suggests that they may be on-curve to do the same; that human rights advancements will follow economic ones in the coming decades, and haven’t come yet because China is still relatively young in the process of modernizing.
 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Shoblongoo