General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Ok, age check, who remembers? [View all]malthaussen
(17,237 posts)Our ethics have never kept up with our technology, and this has led to a lot of lamentable problems over the course of history. It's hard to imagine a future that isn't dystopian, because it would require a change in the nature of Man. Increased centralization, concentration of capital and information in the hands of a few, who will parcel it out at their discretion, and constant surveillance of the masses to stave off any potential danger. A benevolent tyranny only works for the masses if the tyrant is benevolent, but the type of personality who desires to be a tyrant is not benevolent.
Add in the shifting power among nations and people as the Europeans who have dominated the world for the past couple of centuries see their power dissipating, and I'm not sanguine that we will last those 50 years, although the human race has muddled through this sort of thing before. But not with nuclear weapons.
Add in the blind disregard of environmental damage due to an outmoded and wasteful theory of economics, and again things don't look too good for our unhappy planet.
-- Mal