To ask how you think the UK will survive these?

[wheresmymojo]

Linked to another thread but I don't want to take that one off on to too much of a tangent.

Things don't feel brilliant in the UK right now, it's not the first time we've had 'bad times' though.

However I feel it's different this time because we have four massive looming global changes coming...usually when you're in 'bad times' there aren't four much, much bigger problems already on their way.

I'm interested in how people think the UK will fair, I spend a lot time trying to understand / imagine what the world will look like after some of these things but haven't remotely wrapped my head around what all four combined would look like?

The four things I see on the horizon are...

• The impact of climate change (personally I think 1.5c+ change is pretty inevitable now)

• The aging population / huge decrease in working age population

• The potential for AI to become more intelligent than humans

• The decline of the West and rise of the East

We won’t. There’s not always a solution sadly.

That's what I wonder though...what does that look like exactly?

I know no-one knows...but when I'm bored that's where my head goes...you watch so many dystopian films and such and I just find myself wondering...what will it actually look like?

(Guaranteed to feel much more banal in real life)

Apparently we're on track to hit 1.5c+ by 2027 which is sooner than I thought so clearly even if we got our shit together globally (which we won't) its going to end up much worse than that...

Just a country that slowly goes down the shitter and ends up a second world country. We’ll be a bit like how Eastern Europe used to be I expect, in terms of quality of life.

As a mum of tiny children I am trying to not think about it because it terrifies me.

I actually think we're better placed in terms of climate change than an awful lot of other countries, I really wouldn't want to be any further South ... No question the future looks rocky though

I think we'll end up a bit like Albania.

I agree...not very well placed for food though if there's any scarcity and migration will become completely unsustainable if there are millions and millions displaced from countries in famine/drought.

But you’re forgetting mass migration. Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. In fact, its birth rate is so high the population is going to double by 2050. African women still have five children, on average. When climate change gets worse, that booming young population will head for Europe. And that will massively destabilise the continent. It was mass migration that brought down the Roman Empire. Various German tribes began crossing the frontier, first in a trickle, then a flood. There is even evidence that climate change and overpopulation played a part. None of this is new, in other words. I’m convinced human history moves in cycles of destruction and re-building. And it’s probably caused by the same things each time.

War, chaos, revolution, etc, have pretty much been the norm throughout human history. But you also get windows of peace and prosperity. 1945-2020 was a window (at least in the developed world). Now that’s coming to an end, as it always does.

Then again, who knows what AI will bring. It’s an unknown quantity. AI really is something new. It might destroy us, but it might usher in a golden age. It is already being used to deal with the ageing population and tackle climate change.

It's why I can't be bothered to join in the Tories vs Labour chat on the other thread.

I feel like it's very much a moot point in the face of what's coming.

There isn't a Government that's going to 'make things better'. We're not in a time in history where a half decent Govt with some half decent policies is going to get us back on track (even if we had one in waiting, which I don't believe we do).

You will be fine just like you always have been. Except for there may be a boom in the air con industry.

I am more pessimistic about the world in general and Britain in particular than I have ever been and I grew up with the Cold War and 3 day weeks / power cuts.

For different reasons than OP though.

Climate has always changed and the more pertinent question is whether we can do anything about it. Spunking billions on projects that won't move the dial particularly if China and India don't play ball seems a fast route to self impoverishment to me.

The advance of the Thought Police though is a much bigger concern. Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning not an instruction manual. Dissent on a large range of important subjects - climate change, trans rights, Brexit, lockdowns, vaccinations is not tolerated. These are subjects that should be openly debated.

The decay of democracy is equally concerning - giving up democratic rights to organisations like the EU, UN and WHO seems to be promoted by politicians of all stripes who seem to prefer the exercise of power without being accountable.

I'm glad I'm not 21

I'm not generally a pessimist or a worrier and I've done lots and lots of research. This isn't going to be fine.

The best we can hope for is 'not too awful before we die' and don't think about further than that!

Were actually probably going to turn out to be one of the luckiest set of humans to have lived. We were here at the peak of humanity, and we lived in the Western world during that peak.

I'm afraid it's all downhill from here!

To be really bleak, I absolutely have thought of mass migration, I honestly see gun turrets on the coast at some point in the not too distant future. There was a film years ago about mass migration from Africa to Europe, can't remember what it was called but very prescient

Mmm........ Somewhat overly naive view I suspect

Our health service is already far worse than that in the former eastern bloc countries. All my friends from Eastern Europe head home when medical tests and a diagnosis are needed. They get what they need to make a rigorous diagnosis quickly and reliably, without a massive hoo-ha and having to jump through 15 hoops to get there.

In the immediate centuries, pretty rubbish (because there will be lots of changes and we are used to how things are now, and some of the changes might make some of us die sooner than we might otherwise).
Longer term, "just the same, but they live underwater" (perhaps not literally, but in essence) actually seems pretty likely - there will still be recognisable people here doing everyday people things, just not how we did it. They will still eat bread and fall in love and get tired out by their toddlers.

I actually think we have gone over the tipping point in terms of environmental degradation. In a time not so long ago the car windscreen would be literally covered in dead insects after a journey of 30miles (I know I'm to blame too!) We've just done a journey of that length and not 1 insect. However we did see 3 dead foxes and a deer.
We have just seen a segment about Bass Island in Scotland which a few years ago was covered in guillemots. Then along came bird flu and decimated the colony. African wildlife being in conflict with the ever rising number of humans, wars, poverty and all the rest. Anyone remember the song Big Yellow Taxi. A line that springs to mind is 'they took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum. Charged the people $1 and a half just to see 'em.
Look at the problem with plastic pollution. Microbeads in the oceans will soon (if not already) be in us. Never mind UHP foods!!
When we were younger we were told that having children (apart from the underlying biological urge to procreate) was a sign of optimism in the future. Even back then when we were hearing about the deforestation in the Amazon we weren't to optimistic about the strength of political will to solve these problems.
We never had children! I'm so glad we made that decision. I used to be something of an optimist but no longer

Climate change makes no difference to a temperate island in northwest Europe, just as nothing we do any difference to climate change. This country produces less than 1% of global emissions.

Ageing population is not unique to the UK. It’s going to be a global trend in the coming years. Even China has this problem now. This is why successive govts have opened the borders for uncontrolled mass migration. They just lie and don’t admit it.

AI has been in the making for decades. It plays a role in every aspect of our life. Luddites always scream about every tech advancement. Watch out for the scaremongering, it turns into nudge actions pretty fast.

All in all, this country will continue to see weak economic growth, standard of living will continue to decline and we will become a crackpot economy like Greece or Italy in the next decade or so. Halfway there already. Anyone who can get out, should do so.

Do your own research for your essay / vlog / blog/ or whatever.

Anyhow, what do you think?

I find it so weird that people come on threads to say this...

No offence to anyone but if I was going to write a blog / essay / whatever about the decline of humanity Mumsnet wouldn't be my first port of call for research...

Oh dear.

Definitely don't do any more research. Ignorance clearly is bliss.