The World 2050

[Matt Damon™]

LOL PEAK OIL HURRRRRR :tinfoil:

Peak oil won't be the end of modern civilization, people.

[Rild]

yes it will, you're wrong

[Matt Damon™]

I don't really see how peak oil is at worst anything more than a bad decade or two of readjustment for the west.

[bgwah]

Oh wow, lot's of hilariously crazy predictions in here. I hope mine doesn't sound that crazy.

-China will be considered a superpower
-India will be the most populous nation on Earth, and will likely, developmentally-wise, look something like China does right now.
-The U.S. will still be a major power, though it won't dominate like it does right now.
-The European Union will begin to look more and more like a single state (as opposed to a federation of numerous countries), similar to the U.S. in the 19th century.
-The Middle East will suck even more without the oil money to profit from
-Israel/Palestine will still be on the brink of destruction if they still exist
-Africa will still suck
-Religion will continue to diminish in the developed world
-The world will transition away from fossil fuels. Will be some bumps along the way, but certainly not the apocalypse some predict.
-Changes in sea level may devastate certain areas like the Maldives, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands
-We still won't have any permanent colonies on the Moon or Mars

[specific_name]

^That's pretty dismal...
^^I honestly cannot see Russia, a country of 100 million, taking down China, the European Union, and the USA. Those three groups spend roughly 5x more than Russia on their military, and have 15-20x the population. It won't happen unless some Russian puppet states officially rejoin Russia and provide formal military support. Even then, it's iffy.

If my scenario came true, it would cover a period of 30+ years. So it's possible that this balance of power can change. I was thinking of Russia's untapped resources in Siberia as I was writing this. Assuming that energy becomes a serious problem in the future - as in world realignment serious - we could see previously strong nations become dependent on ones that are weaker now.

[??????????]

The US won't exist, it will disintegrated into separate political entities.

[yoman82]

^That's pretty dismal...
^^I honestly cannot see Russia, a country of 100 million, taking down China, the European Union, and the USA. Those three groups spend roughly 5x more than Russia on their military, and have 15-20x the population. It won't happen unless some Russian puppet states officially rejoin Russia and provide formal military support. Even then, it's iffy.

If my scenario came true, it would cover a period of 30+ years. So it's possible that this balance of power can change. I was thinking of Russia's untapped resources in Siberia as I was writing this. Assuming that energy becomes a serious problem in the future - as in world realignment serious - we could see previously strong nations become dependent on ones that are weaker now.

Should energy become a key component of the economy in the future, the Middle East would rise to power, and would trash Russia should there be a war there.

[Χahar]

San Marino needs to annex Italy as fast as possible.

No! Have you seen their electoral system? It's terrible!

Belgium is destroyed by the competing forces of regional devolution and supranational centralization.

[Hashemite]

San Marino needs to annex Italy as fast as possible.

No! Have you seen their electoral system? It's terrible!

Belgium is destroyed by the competing forces of regional devolution and supranational centralization.

Italy's electoral system is equally as awful. Plus, San Marino has decent politicians, unlike Italy.

[Matt Damon™]

Palestine will have replaced Israel

[blagohair.com]

China and India are both paper tigers and jokes. Brazil is the potential big boy to watch since they've started getting their act together.

I don't disagree about Brazil, but I do about China and India.

[blagohair.com]

Oh wow, lot's of hilariously crazy predictions in here. I hope mine doesn't sound that crazy.

-China will be considered a superpower
-India will be the most populous nation on Earth, and will likely, developmentally-wise, look something like China does right now.
-The U.S. will still be a major power, though it won't dominate like it does right now.
-The European Union will begin to look more and more like a single state (as opposed to a federation of numerous countries), similar to the U.S. in the 19th century.
-The Middle East will suck even more without the oil money to profit from
-Israel/Palestine will still be on the brink of destruction if they still exist
-Africa will still suck
-Religion will continue to diminish in the developed world
-The world will transition away from fossil fuels. Will be some bumps along the way, but certainly not the apocalypse some predict.
-Changes in sea level may devastate certain areas like the Maldives, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands
-We still won't have any permanent colonies on the Moon or Mars

Very reasonable predictions.
I do agree with the McCain guy that there is a possibility Mexico will collapse (even though I have a feeling the opposite will happen) but I doubt the United States will inherit them.

[Matt Damon™]

3/4 of their populaiton, including relatives of a decent chunk of their electorate flees here in the wake of a collapse. That plus the oil supplies means we'd be stuck owning Mexico.

[blagohair.com]

By the way, I think what would give us a better idea of what might possibly happen in 2050, is look at how the world was 41 years ago in 1968 and whether any of the developments that took place since, might have seemed reasonable at the time.

Lets assume that someone had said in 1968 that the following would happen in the next 41 years:
- Man will walk on the moon, but there will be very little space travel
- The Soviet Union will collapse
- European countries will form a Union and introduce a common currency
- America will elect a black president
- Communication and exchange of information will become much easier and faster through a world wide network called the internet
- The Eastern communist bloc will collapse with many of its members joining the European Union and others such as Yugoslavia being divided.
- The United States will be the lone superpower, but the European Union and Japan are also very strong.  China is emerging as a world superpower and becoming more consumerist.  The only remaining communist nations are Cuba and North Korea.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has many problems but they are still a strong player in world politics.
-
-

[specific_name]

I think some people here are laughing at my vision of the future as "crazy." When the tripartite world war breaks out, I won't have any free bunker space for these certain individuals.

[Vepres]

US
- The US has become very right-wing economically, though regulation of big business is no longer stigmatized by the right.
- WASPs will be only a plurality, but most people at this point consider Hispanics and Arabs white.
- Still the monopolar superpower, but many other nations are becoming powerful. At least 3 or 4 nations will have the economic power relative to the US as Japan's is the US today.
- Oil is rarely used in day to day life.
- The US and Mexico develop closer relations as the latter state modernizes and liberalizes.
- California has an unexpected economic resurgence at some point between now and 2050.
- The Northeast and Industrial Midwest aren't very influential due to population loss.
- Denver and Phoenix become even more influential.
- The Republicans and Democrats are still the two dominant parties, though neither advocates for social conservatism on the national level.
- Racial disparities are much less pronounced.

World Politics
- For a variety of reasons, China stagnates in the 2020s and never recovers.
- India is far more modern and powerful.
- West Europe has been in economic decline for the past few decades, save perhaps Ireland.
- Russia liberalizes at some point, which causes an economic resurgence.
- Africa is far more stable and developed, though still behind the rest of the world.
- War and terrorism are increasingly rare in the developed world.
- The EU either gains far more power over its constituent nations or dissolves.
- Most modernized democracies are slightly to the left economically of the current US, similar to modern Australia or Canada.

Technology and Misc. Stuff
- AI advances little, and many computer scientists have moved on.
- Growth in computer power all but stagnates.
- Cars are still common, though all are electric and trains are used frequently for both short and long distance travel.
- There is a moon colony, though colonizing Mars has yet to occur (humans have only visited the planet once).
- Virtual reality is another over-hyped technology that advances little.
- Video games are the primary hobby for over 2/3 of all males, and 1/4 of all females.
- Smart phones and laptops have replaced PCs for daily use.
- Life expectancy in developed nations is ~90.
- Renewable energy is the norm.
- Urban centers grow, but suburbs and exurbs don't decline as many thought they would.
- Some jobs now have 4 day work weeks.
- America no longer has a weight problem, but many European and Asian countries continue struggle with it as they lagged behind the US in starting and solving the problem.
- Robotics experience a slight boom, but then stagnate as AI fails to keep up.
- Global Warming is now hotly debated, and a growing number of scientists reject it as the Earth cooled in the 2030s and 2040s.
- Genetic engineering is stigmatized and researchers hit major walls that are yet to be broken.
- Common forms of cancer reach nearly 100% survivability.
- An HIV/AIDS vaccine is developed.
- The issue of bacterial resistance to antibiotics through mutation is resolved.
- Overall, the world is technologically very similar to today's world. The once anticipated 'J' curve of technological growth never materializes, instead it turns out to be an 'S' curve, with the peak development rate in the 2010s and early 2020s. 

[CultureKing]

President-for-life Miley Cyrus leads the US to complete domination of the world by 2025.

[dialectical fetishist]

US: Republicans go libertarian, Democrats go authoritarian socialist

Britain: Labour becomes a minor party, two party system between Cons and Lib Dems. We leave the EU in the 2010s.

[dialectical fetishist]

President-for-life Miley Cyrus leads the US to complete domination of the world by 2025.

Sexy dictators ftw!

[Χahar]

US: Republicans go libertarian, Democrats go authoritarian socialist

Britain: Labour becomes a minor party, two party system between Cons and Lib Dems. We leave the EU in the 2010s.

lolz

[opebo]

Map:  Yellow is absolute decline in standard of living
Orange is relative decline in standard of living (roughly stagnating in real terms)
light Blue is increasing standard of living at or somewhat above world average
Dark blue is rapidly increasing standard of living.

[afleitch]

The balance of power within Christianity shifts at long last to Africa and South America. The first effects are felt in the Anglican Communion followed by the election of a non European Pope. Church attendance and identification declines in Europe as Christianity becomes shaped by African missionary hangover
ideology mixed with ingrained tribalism. African Pope calls for the re-criminalisation of homosexuality. European states wind down official links with the church as attendence plunges.

European Islam moves in a progressive direction and moves away from Arab influence, though this takes a while to spread to Britain. Pakistan falls to the Taliban in 2014 India and China launch invasion almost overnight and overthrow the regime. Islamic Republic in Iran falls. America and Europe sit on their hands as it fails the first test of the 21st century 'order'

[Vepres]

I really don't see why everybody thinks China and India will do so well. Most of India is still an uneducated, third-world country. China is growing too rapidly to be sustainable, and the one child policy will stifle growth as well. Communism cannot sustain growth like that.

[N.i.K.]

I really don't see why everybody thinks China and India will do so well. Most of India is still an uneducated, third-world country. China is growing too rapidly to be sustainable, and the one child policy will stifle growth as well. Communism cannot sustain growth like that.

Well, I've actually thought it has down quite well, actually, so far. But the growth is invisible, despite upticks in international clout and domestic "prosperity". China is a ticking time bomb, and basically Japan on steroids. Sometime in the decade after next people will realize that this is just a short term trend for China.

[Vepres]

I really don't see why everybody thinks China and India will do so well. Most of India is still an uneducated, third-world country. China is growing too rapidly to be sustainable, and the one child policy will stifle growth as well. Communism cannot sustain growth like that.

Well, I've actually thought it has down quite well, actually, so far. But the growth is invisible, despite upticks in international clout and domestic "prosperity". China is a ticking time bomb, and basically Japan on steroids. Sometime in the decade after next people will realize that this is just a short term trend for China.

Indeed.

I think India has potential, but there's such a disparity between the urban and rural areas in terms of standard of living.