Welcome to my blog. EARTH In the Next Century

OVERVIEW

A century from now Earth will be surprisingly different, according to sleep-rousing thoughts over a period of several weeks. Though highly controversial without scientific knowledge these projections seemed important enough to take notes the following mornings.

The mind would roam the globe, making startling conclusions. For example, just a fraction of the Overview:

FORMATION OF NATION-STATES

North America

* The U.S. annexed the northern half of Mexico, most of those whose lives are intertwined with NAFTA trade.

* Politically, Hispanic voters outnumbered non-Hispanic, European North Americans, African and Asian Americans so they reached a joint agreement with Canada to form a gigantic North American nation - state. This country now had self-sustaining resources of energy, (natural gas, oil and water) as well as an abundance of employable male and female workers.

 

Central & South America

*  South and Central American countries, also no longer dependent on Middle Eastern resources and aware of the advantages of consolidating their assets and trade advantages, formed another huge nation-state in the Southern half of the hemisphere.

 

Asia

*  Asia's powerful nations of the 21st century projected mind-boggling developments in the century ahead.

*  The Koreas were joined as a single nation.  China' military was massed at the border, preventing an overflowing emigration of North Koreans into China.

*  China had undergone a revolution due to a deep economic recession where the middle class lost their investments in a housing bubble and millions of young rurals were unemployed.

*  The Chinese military took over control from the Communist Party civilian elite, stabilized the economy, conscripted the rurals into the Army, then negotiated an agreement with Russia.

*  The Russian Army would leave the border between Siberia and China so the Chinese could perform a soft invasion north, providing its surplus of young people with land and the ability to settle.  Since both countries have nuclear weapons, why obliterate each other when China's victory with a massive Army invasion would be assured?

*  In return, Russia could move its troops to protect the establishment of its Euro-Russian population as a separate nation, sharing Siberia's rich natural resources with China and permitting Russia to maintain its Far Eastern port of Vladivostok.

 

Eastern Europe

*  Euro-Russia then became the dominant Eastern Europe country which combined with others to become an Eastern European nation-state.

 

Southeast Asia

*  Southeast Asian (ASEAN) nations from the heavily populated Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are thriving now that China is distracted with its revolution and northern migration.  Australia is irrigating its desert with desalinated water from the Indian Ocean and is welcoming immigrants from SE Asia to help farm the newly-verdant land.

 

Himalayan East

*  India's overflowing emigrants (men and women, educated and the less educated living in poverty) have directly affected nations to the East and West.  Many have poured into neighboring Myanmar, Thailand, Laos & Vietnam, causing social upheavals.

*  To the West India has invested heavily in Afghanistan's natural resources and reached a business arrangement with the Afghans, since Indian bureaucrats and the Afghan tribal leaders are equally familiar with beneath-the-table business practices. This has squeezed Pakistan's turbulent government into an acknowledgment of India's dominance, bringing together two nuclear nations of India and Pakistan who were mortal enemies (though of the same race) with an alliance comprised of the  militaries of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan overseeing the civilian governments of the three countries.

 

Europe

*  The European Union was the first experiment in bringing people of different languages and cultures together, first with a single currency, the Euro, and now in the 22nd century they have a central government as a nation-state.  Now that Euro-Russia is compatible with the other East European c;ountries there will soon be just one nation-state from the UK  in the West to Russia in the East.  Their economies are thriving with tech manufacturing and are still popular tourist destinations.

 

Independent States

Middle East & North Africa

*  Across the Middle East there are still no nation-states, but alliances are being considered. Turkey is part of the European Union. Other than Israel Iran is the sole nuclear power in the area, dominating the Shia governments of Iraq and Syria, plus the Sunnis on the Arabian peninsula.  Lebanon, Jordan and the new state of Palestine are actively engaged in trade with Israel.

*  Oil and natural gas are no longer in demand beyond Western Europe.  The North African Arabic countries from Egypt to Morocco are working together to feed their people as Egypt's heavy population emigrates Westward to Libya and Algeria. 

The nations that educate their women and permit them to be a part of the workforce seem to be in better economic shape than the others. 

Because of religious interpretations of the Koran in much of the Muslim world, particularly in the rural areas, they are still confining women and are losing their potential productivity.  Finally realizing the urgency of preparing these countries for survival their leaders are displaying signs and posters everywhere declaring, "WATER & WOMEN -- ESSENTIAL RESOURCES."

Although most Muslim countries' urbanites in the 22nd century are educating their girls to the extent they will be able to work side-by-side with men, increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP), they could still be two or three hundred years behind the economically developed nations.

Relaxation of dogmatic beliefs takes time.  Anglos had the Magna Charta in the early 1200s; yet in the 1600s, 400 years later, Europe's Christian Catholic countries were persecuting Protestants.  And even in New England the Puritans and Quakers were beheading and torturing each other.

 

Central & South Africa

*  The Black African countries of Central and Southern Africa are rich with natural resources, including rare earths minerals which China was helping them develop.  Before the revolution China was building highways and railroads in order to bring Africa's resources to nearby ports.  The Chinese presence has relaxed somewhat, leaving individual African leaders to join with North America and Europe in the development and export of these resources.

 Although there remain tribal battles among the smaller states, why are the major powers so tranquil in the 22nd century?

It has not been mentioned until now but when the mind first roamed across the globe it was a shock to realize Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, had been leveled  Uncertain as to whether this was from conventional or nuclear bombing it was assumed that North Korea had rattled the patience of one or more major powers.  Since there was no evidence of a similar bombing around the Earth it could be that a ship had been sunk by the North Koreans, either deliberately or by mistake.

This must have occurred back in the 21st century because there was a spectacular new city with strikingly unusual architecture nearby the original Pyongyang site.  With its civilian and military leadership removed South Korea quickly moved in and unified the two Koreas, with advantages that will lead  to the prosperity of both.  China's greatest concern at that point was to seal its border with Korea to prevent an influx of refugees.

Though the military control many of Earth's governments the destruction of Pyongyang must have been sobering to them, including those with nuclear capability.  They could easily destroy each other, but would that be prudent?

 

 

 

CHALLENGE

After reading my OVERVIEW of Earth in the 22nd Century as observed in several weeks of nearly sleepless nights you are probably more than ready to refute many of these insights.  That is the reason for reporting them--challenge each with your thoughts of how it will be more than 100 years from now.

 

Transportation

Transportation on the land, in the air and on the water will be drastically different in the next century.

 

Air Transportation

 *  Guided missiles now transport passengers from one continent to another.  They are limited to trips of 6,000 mile or more, such as New York to New Delhi.

 *  For transcontinental flights under 6,000 miles (Buenos Aires to Frankfurt) there are now giant supersonic jets with newly-developed noise suppressors.

 *  Domestic flights of short distances have VTOL (Vertcal Takeoff and Landing) capabilities and speeds under Mach 1.

 *  Freight is being transported by missiles, supersonic jets and VTOLs, as are passengers.

 *  Scientists have been researching TeleTransport possibilities where individuals with their luggage in Toronto could enter a door labeled "Tokyo," have it closed, then find themselves at the Tokyo airport.  While this is not yet possible in the next century they have the capability to move inanimate objects such as the luggage. 

 

Water Transportation

*  Movement by water has changed little in the 22nd century.  Motor boats and yachts are faster nowthat hovercraft forced air technology has improved and many of the smaller boats have changed from gasoline engines to electric because of new battery developments.

*  Cruise ships have slimmed down, smaller and faster, more luxurious although there are still a few massive ships with Casinos which have lost thier appeal with so many available everywhere on land.

*  Sailboats, kayaks and canoes are more popular than ever with American and European citizens because of increased leisure time and emphasis on physical fitness.

Levitation is the greatest factor of change in transportation in the 22nd century.  There will remain many automobiles with wheels for local travel (though most will have electric motors) but for travel of any distance by land or water there will be either magnetic or forced air levitation to move passengers and freight. 

 

 

 

Land Transportation

 * Extremely fast trains using magnetic levitation technology were zooming across Japan, China and India.  By the appearance of their development these three ccountries have had wheelless maglev trains for many decades,

 *  Europe, too had a rapid transit system stretching from Paris to Moscow, although not as advanced as those in Asia.

 *  Africa had maglev trains produced and developed by the Chinese who have the patent rights to the many rare earths found in Africa, minerals needed for magnetic levitation technology.  At this time following the Chinese revolution, however, African leaders have taken over many of the rare earth mines.

 *  The North American nation-state seems to be in the process of expanding its rapid transit systems by adding maglev trains between the most popular city-pairs such as Los Angeles-San Francisco and Boston-New York-Washington.

 *  Although the cost of gasoline is inexpensive throughout the world there are few gasoline-powered cars or trucks outside the Middle East.  Scientists or engineers must have finally developed electric batteries that can withstand several driving hours without re-charging.  Most nation-states have fewer gas stations, and they also include charging stations for electric vehicles.

*  Because of distances bewteen cities where families and business people find train travel impratical there appears to be an experimental highway toll road linking Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City-Chicago with a lane for cars and trucks that permit automated driving.  Cruise Control is set a certain speed and the cars drive themselves in a single lane (no passing).

 

FARMING & FISHING

Growing grains, processing meat and extracting fish and shellfish from rivers and oceans may be the area of concern most affected by the changes in weather in the past century.  Glaciers have melted, many coastlines have been flooded, animals, birds and fish have migrated because of drought or heavy rains.

 Farming

•  Rice, Beans, Corn and Wheat continue to be the grains most popular on Earth.  Thanks to irrigation of desalinated sea water the Middle Eastern countries are able to grow their own grains.  North Americans and Chinese have increased arable lands in the warming climates of Northern Canada and Siberia.
• Chicken is eaten nearly everywhere while Pork is a favorite with all but the Muslims and Jews. Large chicken farms are on every continent and hog farms are prevalent outside the Middle East.
• Beef consumption has decreased in the Americas.  Steaks and even burgers are in less demand, resulting in fewer cattle ranches in Australia, Argentina and other South American countries, the US and Canada.
• The health-conscious middle class in every nation have greatly turned to eating more fruits and vegetables, so farm markets are found in and around large urban centers.  Vegetarians share responsibility for the relative decrease in red meat consumption compared to population growth.
• Even new vineyards are appearing in areas with more favorable climates.  Beer continues to be a popular beverage with young people but with adults wineries are increasing at the expense of distilleries.

Fishing

• Consumption of fish and shellfish has grown throughout the planet. International organizations are very aware of locations that are overfished so restrictions are placed on commercial fisheries as that occurs.  Due to climate change spawning areas have moved and are also regulated.
• Fish and seafood farms are answering the needs of population growth.  Trout, catfish, clams, oysters or shrimp are being cultivated in rivers and oceans of every continent, depending on the water, the coastlines and consumer demand.
• Whales, porpoises and dolphins are mammals considered as friends and relatives of Earthians, and are therefore protected by governments from any form of fishing, maiming or capturing for any but scientific reasons.

COMMUNICATIONS

So much has transpired in the past 100 years, particularly in the field of Communications.  Miniature screens convey sights and sounds on the wrist, conversations are translated with a device that hears one language and speaks another, even thoughts can be divulged and printed.  Progress is also being made in communicating with the more intelligent mammals.

• In the 21^st century the pocket watch gave way to the wrist watch.  Now the wrist watch has been replaced with a “TranSonic” 4”-by- 3” inch screen that provides radio, television, internet and telephone service displayed under the wrist and acts as a camera when a button is pushed and the arm lifted. 
• Also popular with tourists, business people and diplomats is a small instrument named “Interpreter” because it can be programmed to translate the owner’s language into the language of the recipient.  If a Chinese businessman travels to Europe he can speak Mandarin and the Interpreter will translate his words into English or French.
• A process developed by neuroscientists is a liquid that will expose a person’s thoughts to a printer.  It is so dangerous that it could turn the closest friends or relatives to violence if they knew what others were really thinking.  It is extremely valuable to law enforcement officials, however, when interrogating a potential criminal.  When questioned after swallowing the “Thoughtful” liquid  a person’s thoughts as well as his words are printed.  The lie detector is obsolete.
• Advancements have been made in communicating with the most intelligent mammals, particularly chimpanzees and dolphins.  Vocal experts are recording sounds made under various daily circumstances, trying to establish a chimp or dolphin language that can be programmed into an “Interpreter” or printed after taking the “Thoughtful” liquid.

   

MAJOR POWERS FORMATIONS       

In my OVERVIEW several of the major powers’ Nation-States formations in the past century were mentioned but not described.  During those many sleepless nights my mind wandered the globe from continent to continent and though nothing could be “seen,” details of situations on the ground were “sensed.”

At the United Nations the Security Council was replaced by the NSC (Nation-States Council) consisting of the major military powers and rotating lesser powers.

EXPANDED CHINA

•  The Communist Party civilian elite were brilliant in expanding China’s exports of low-cost consumer goods while greatly increasing its imports and development of Earth’s natural resources.
• There was just one problem – with a population of more than 1.3 billion the government had to find 20 million new jobs each year for young men and women moving from rural areas to the cities.
• Citizens in China’s burgeoning middle class now had money to invest.  New construction of high-rise apartment buildings brought thousands of new jobs and were an appealing investment.
• But miles of these buildings were unoccupied with no owners or renters to pay for the construction.
• What could have been a mild recession exacerbated when the bubble burst; workers lost their jobs and the middle class lost their investments.
• The aftermath was far more than student protests; there was a mass revolution of the young unemployed and investors, accusing the Communist Party elite of corruption and mismanagement.
• As in so many countries only one element could stifle a genuine revolution – the military.
• Although they were not battle-tested the military leaders had major investments of their own and had astute managers.
• They moved swiftly to depose the Communist Party leaders, quell the mobs without firing on them, and conscripting more than a million unemployed into the military services, assuring them of food and shelter.
• Despite the revolution China was no paper tiger.  It quickly regained the economy but still had a problem of caring for the unemployed and their expanded military families.
• China’s military government  needed more arable land.  Just as they had moved many of their people into Tibet they now wanted a soft invasion of Siberia to the North without fighting a war with Russia.

Expanded North American Nation-State

How and why did the US annex the Northern half of Mexico?  Was it strictly the result of changing demographics?  And it’s almost impossible to believe that proud Canada would agree to an alliance with its two Southern neighbors.

After the illegal immigrants from Mexico to the US were given amnesty twice in the past century this fertile, family-oriented group soon greatly outnumbered African-Americans and their numbers were approaching the non-Hispanic European Americans.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) must have brought together leaders in Northern Mexico with their peers in the US and Canada through manufacturing, trade and lack of tariffs.  

Should N. Mexico join the US,  Hispanics would dominate American politics.  Non-Hispanic Whites, African-Americans and Asian-Americans must have been alarmed, exploring with Canadians the possibility of  forming a powerful, resource-rich Nation-State that would ally both Northern Mexico and Canada with the USA.

Canada had to have been a reluctant suitor.  Although their militaries were  very close, politically they had a parliamentary-style government where elections could be called and leadership changed at any time.

Canada’s business and agricultural interests must have prevailed over their political concerns.  A merger offered  greater access to the voracious, well-heeled US American consumer.

This powerful North American Nation-State still has Regional capitals in Mexico City, Washington, DC and Ottawa but the new overriding Nation-State capital is located in Colorado Springs near Cheyenne Mountain and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) headquarters, the 20^th century bi-national US and Canadian organization for North American aerospace warning and control.

The beautiful Colorado Springs area is booming with its new importance on the world stage.

 MILITARY POWER

The Weapons Systems manufacturers and arms dealers of the 21^st century have been relegated to  minor roles in providing Earth’s military leaders of the 22^nd century with warfare capability.

• Navies’ old aircraft carriers are obsolete.  Some were converted to shopping malls that could be moved closer to inland as shorelines regress.
• Their “Top Guns” Naval pilots and their fighter planes were long ago replaced by land-based UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Air Force navigators.
• Why does any nation need a large standing Army?  Only to protect its borders or to invade neighboring states without Air or Naval transport.
• Military UAVs used for reconnaissance and those that are weaponized are also in a precarious position as the possibilities of cyber warfare increase.  Not only financial networks and public utilities are at risk from cyber attacks, but so are military aircraft and drones.
• Major powers now have the capability to conduct space-based cyber warfare from space ships which can cyber attack, cyber defend or provide intelligence.  Warfare is no longer dominated by the threat of nuclear weapons since they are trumped by cyberspace control.
• At present there appears to be a balance of power in space – North  America, Europe and Australia vs. China and its satellites with extraordinary cyber warfare capabilities.
• The Coast Guards of nation-states are much more important to the untold millions of citizenry living along receding river and ocean coastlines.  Their huge magnetic levitation bulldozers are proving invaluable in clearing the debris of flooded homes, stores and marinas, while  aiding in the restoration of shorelines.
• Due to the destruction of Pyongyang, the melding of the two Koreas, the pragmatic agreement between China plus the Far-East Asians and the Euro- Russians, the major powers are in a temporary period of relative, yet delicate,  peace.
• The Middle East, however, remains mired in tribal and religious battles, trying to shake off centuries of illiteracy and religious dogma by educating its boys and girls.

The threat  of  space-based cyber warfare now trumps nuclear warfare which had threatened major air, land and sea-based warfare.  Only the primitive states continue to wage tribal warfare