To wonder how the world will look in 40 years

[Figmentofmyimagination]

We killed time on a long car journey yesterday idly speculating about this. If you think back to how the world looked in 1980 - and how it looks now.
My DD (15) was very pessimistic - no antibiotics, species deaths etc. My DH was much more optimistic in some ways - eg better genetics to tackle diseases. I thought the trains might be a bit faster! Actually I'm pretty pessimistic politically, but more interesting to hear what others think. This feels like one of those "turning points".

[Gruach]

Assisted dying will be lawful

Not lawful; compulsory.

[Notfabulousatfourty]

I truly. Else that unless we stop 'factory farming' animals we Will all eventually be killed off by a global pandemic. You just cannot keep tens or hundreds of thousands of animals in close proximity and expect this not to happen. It only takes one 'deadly' mutation in an existing virus e.g one of the many current strains of avian flu to enable it to be both highly pathogenic (deadly) AND be transmitted by air rather than close contact.

The USA, which has appalling animal welfare standards, have just culled 10% of their entire chicken populations (millions and millions.) due to an outbreak of avian flu which they hugely struggled to contain.

But at least we can all keep gobbling up our £4 chicken in Tesco's til it sweeps the earth!!

[Timetoask]

The ways things are going Britain will be a Muslim country
I turn in the bbc Iplayer and I find the following on offer "mi jihad", "Muslim comedy", jihab fashion (or whatever they are called), eastenders with covered women, I despair

[DancingLadyEmoji]

Aah good, the Daily Mail have arrived

[KneesOfTheBee]

I will be 93 but look 23 thanks to the >50 years I have been slapping serum on my face and staying out of the sun.

I don't look 23 now but I am assured by the advertising bods that the right amount of polly wolly peptides will do the job of time reversal.

Say it will be so.

[Idontseeanydragons]

Transporters and replicators will be common place and we will have been visited by friendly Aliens.
Yes I know Star Trek is fiction and not science but at least it's eventually, after WW3 cheerful rather than a dystopian nightmare!

[FineDamBeaver]

Good thread!

The UK will become increasingly politically unstable in the coming decades as it's place in the world becomes much worse (partly because we don't generally produce anything). There will be riots. The gap between rich and poor will continue to widen, financially and educationally, and we'll get serfdom again.

Physically, I find it hard to imagine what it might look like. Probably crowded, dirty and with lots of people sleeping in little "homeless pods" to keep them out the way.

Bruce Forsyth will still be going strong.

[Athenaviolet]

The 20th century was a historical anomaly in the western world in terms of economic equality and social mobility. The masses are starting to realise that was a relative utopia which is fast coming to an end.

We will soon return to the socio-economic pyramid where there are a few extremely wealthy multi billionaires who control industry, commerce, finance, the media, politics, transport, communications and ideology. Everyone else will fight amongst themselves for the scraps the oligarchy choose to leave for us (just enough to stave off revolution).

We will either accept our fate a la North Korea or revolt a la the storming of the Bastille and Madame Guillotine.

[MaggieJoyBlunt]

I would just like to point out that 1980 WAS NOT 40 YEARS AGO, it was 35. As you were.

Thank you LaChatte I Was getting pedant's itch

eastenders with covered women, I despair

Good god! Muslim women in the East End? It's so untrue to life, that programme

[MaggieJoyBlunt]

The 20th century was a historical anomaly in the western world in terms of economic equality and social mobility. The masses are starting to realise that was a relative utopia which is fast coming to an end.

Yes this.

Coupled with the acceleration of globalisation to the point where the meaning of 'borders' changes entirely.

[FineDamBeaver]

Anyone else up for making a Mumsnet dystopian futuristic SciFi film (set in DFS)?

[MaggieJoyBlunt]

Not if the zombies put their feet on the pouffes, Beaver. I couldn't bear it.

[Idontseeanydragons]

If it's a dystopian film there would have to be toilet brushes.
And the only food left in the planet would be Greggs and MacDonalds.

[Snoozebox]

What we need to avoid all these doomsday scenarios is a quick discovery of a cheap, renewable and safe energy source which can sustain our growing population. It all comes down to energy and technological advances in the end.

If this happens in the next 20 years or so (come on you STEM students!) we should be OK. If not, then I can see the above happening quite plausibly. When we don't keep up with technology, Nature comes and bites us in the arse with a pandemic or famine to keep the numbers down.

Also on one hand we're going to be either told to have more babies and sustain the top heavy population pyramid, or more of us will be forced to care for the elderly, or pensions are cut/stopped (can't see that happening) or euthanasia will become culturally more acceptable through Daily Mail-sequel brainwashing (much more likely).

[FineDamBeaver]

Oh god, yes I can see it now: the zombies will be silently and mindlessly misusing toilet brushes which will simply ruin their silver foil Boden frocks. It will be horrible.

[Pasithea]

All females in burkhas including cats and dogs.

[Snoozebox]

Haha a Mumsnet film set in DFS! I love it.

Also I would argue that we've spent too much time, effort and resources investing in the Internet with no real economic benefits to society. The Internet is one amazing, highly entertaining technology (and I'm being a complete hypocrite here as nearly my whole career has been based around it) but it hasn't contributed towards solving any of our sustainability problems, has it?

[ThatBloodyWoman]

I fear an economic collapse/oil crisis will have sent the world into turmoil.

[Alyosha]

Really out there:

Automation will have taken over around 47% of current jobs.

Optimistially there will be a minimum income, helped by higher taxes on companies awash with profits due to having labour costs about 5% of what they are now.

Either a) people will have huge amounts of leisure time, and we will be moving towards a post-scarcity society, having managed to amp up power production through fusion and or fission or...

b) We will be a country with 47% unemployment and a govt. telling people to find jobs even as driving/caretaking/supermarkets have been 100% automated

[WaggleBee]

Cheery.

[SAHD63]

The world population will have stabilised. China will dominate the world or be recovering from a civil war. Global warming will be accepted as fact (some of us up to our necks in the evidence). Wearable technology will allow our health to be monitored from birth. Other body technology will replace most current PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, etc.

HS2 will still be under review, a 3rd runway report will be commissioned again, and Yodel will still be unable to deliver a parcel to the right address (or on time). And leg warmers will make another pointless return.

Or... Doomsday arrives thanks to a pandemic (or the Daily Mail replaces the BBC which would be pretty much the same as the end of the world). It will have to be a large DFS as I see the post apocalypse world being populated by tribes organised along the lines of MN Topics. AIBU folk would be the Morlocks and residents of Chat the Eloi. There would be a few outliers struggling on (H&G) but I am not sure the likes of S&B would last long at all. Their bodies would look fashionable though.

[Zamboni]

Wow that website up thread is fascinating. Thanks for posting although I think I am going to lose hours of my life.

[TSSDNCOP]

China, having destabilized all other nations will finally stop buying debt. The U.S. and Europe will collapse into financial ruin. As services grind to a halt a period of social collapse will ensue, famine will be widespread. Finally the Chinese population will be able to spread out.

[VulcanWoman]

Tv's will be a thin sheet of glass or plastic, they're getting thinner as the years go on or holograms maybe.