The days become months, and the months years. As I grow older, time marches by at a pretty remarkable clip. That last decade...the one from hell...seems like a long year...and other than the inclusion of a few wonderful grandchildren...it was very depressing. I swear...the court battle...bush v gore... was just a few months ago...wasn't it?
I say this, because at the core of my idea, is that this century will fly by, and I can't help but think that we will need to think like science fiction writers to face it's challenges.
Devices that do our work for us are being invented every day...prefabrication cuts by two thirds the need for construction manpower...and modular is the wave of the future....oppotunities to shop and buy that are putting brick and mortar stores out of business. We're seeing the end of the newspaper industry. Factory farms that can feed huge populations and can be run by a handful of people. The list is long...the possibilities endless...and it means one thing.
The need for human manpower could be cut by a large percentage....by the end of this century.
So...what does that mean for our children's great grandchildren? They'll have incredible entertainment and information at their fingertips. They'll be well fed, well housed...driving vehicles that virtually prevent all accidents. But...they will have no jobs...no opportunities...no reason for living...EXCEPT to utilize.
Computers will do all the paperwork. Machines will build all the products.
So...what does that mean? If we don't decide...soon...that a socialized structure of living...of interaction...is inevitable...we are doomed to fail. With our time freed up...all of the citizens of the industrialized nations could help raise up the lives of all others. Not for profit....but simply because it's the right thing to do.
Can this happen? Not without forsaking the hyper religious egomania of Christianity and Islam. Not without zero population growth.
But...really...isn't is inevitable?
(yes...I do understand that much can go wrong this century...and a utopian view of the future is fragile...but I can hope, can't I?)