In 1969, Andrei Amalrik predicted the fall of the USSR in his essay, “Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?”
Amalrik was a few years off in his estimation, but he was correct that the USSR eventually fell. And only seven years after he predicted.
Exactly. As civilization advances and becomes more supportive of the importance of community and social cohesiveness, there’s a clear trend towards a greater recognition that it’s both more efficient and more humane to have collective responsibility for essential services. The exclusion of health care right now is a bizarre anomaly absolutely unique to the US, and one which is neither morally nor fiscally sustainable.
Nationality… The caste system remains today, with every child assigned a nationality “caste” at birth, destined to live his whole life trapped with a share of the economic wealth and prospects of his birth nation. Enforced by the Brahmins of the western industrial caste.
Access to healthcare will become an actual honest to god right.
Lots of the world is already on the ragged fringes of that belief.
Ditto for clean air and clean water.
My opinion.
[long post skip if you want :)]
I have no idea of the real statistics, but divorce seems to be getting more and more common. So much so, that beyond the legal ramifications, sometimes I wonder what the actual reason is. Yeah, I get it, love and all that, but when people can, and do, walk out of a marriage like they’re breaking up with someone…what’s the point? That is, ‘back in the day’ you may have stuck it out through thick and thin because you promised you would. Now, for many people, when the going gets tough, they take off. And people are encouraged to leave a spouse their not happy with rather than raise kids in that home. FTR, I’m not talking about abuse in way, shape or form. Just a ‘things aren’t working out’ or ‘we’re constantly bickering’ type issues.
I’ve heard it suggested by random people that relationships should have a time limit of X years (say, 5) at which time they reevaluate. Either go their separate ways, no hard feelings or sign up for another 5. Not sure it would work, but interesting thought experiment.
As has come up in countless other threads, many SJWs are as nutty as the extreme right. In years to come some SJW ideas will stick just like some far right ideas will, but if both sides could take a few steps to the middle, tone down the crazy and get past the concept of 'every single thing you propose is wrong because you’re a nazi/socialist, they could probably get even more of their ideas to stick.
Sidenote: It’s too bad for the SJW movement. It’s got good ideas, but I’ve seen them bash people to pieces for the strangest reasons and drive them away.
Part of that is very much ingrained in the gun culture. I’d be interested to hear how popular hunting is in other countries that don’t have guns and have as much wildlife/forest as we do. But part of it is also keeping said wildlife at bay. If we don’t hunt (from what I understand) we end up with deer and other animals making their way into the cities.
That would be great. It would be wonderful to go back to answering an unknown number and knowing it was someone I was (more or less) interested in talking to. I’ve had some thoughts on that, but I’m not sure the logistics would work out.
I’d be interested in that as well, however, I’d be surprised if there was anything about sexual harrassment, even here, going back 20 years.
Bullying has had a HUGE improvement. Back in the day (my day anyways). Teachers, more or less, dealt with it on a case by case basis. IF you told a teacher that another student was bothering you, they may or may not do something about it depending on the circumstances (did they see it happen? anyone else see it? any marks on you? parents involved? etc?). Even then it may just be as simple as punishing that kid for that incident which likely makes things worse for the other kid. But nowadays how bullies are defined are pretty strict and how they are dealt with ramps up very, very quickly.
Case in point. My kid was having her lunch stolen. I told the teacher about about it. He pulled the kid aside and told her that it cannot happen again. He also talked to her parents and, IIRC, sent a memo to the principal. (5th grade BTW) It stopped for a few days, then happened again. I told the teacher. The teacher, the kid, the parents and the principal had a meeting, which I beleive the superintendent and school board where made aware of. The kid was out of the school a week later. It should be made know that I know there were other disciplinary issues with that student and for all I know the parents moved and it was a coincidence. My point being, that I made two reports to the teacher about this happening and the district was aware of the issue.
OTOH, a few years earlier she had a ‘good’ bully, the ‘real’ kind that acted like they were besties, then tormented her and if she told the teacher she convinced her [my kid] it was her fault, like. My kid sound like an abused wife. I mean, she would come out of school every day, crying and but convinced that it was her fault. Worst part was, the teachers believed the bully so I couldn’t get anywhere with it. But that’s a whole 'nother story.
I’m assuming you’re talking about solar? Only because you have to keep in mind that electric cars still use power from your local power plant, most of which still burn coal or oil. Granted, it’s generally more efficient to get it from the grid than make it locally, but it’s still not a renewable resource…that is, unless you’re local utility is hydro/solar/wind (or even nuclear).
“All of us” don’t pay taxes.
Maybe ‘all of you’ who don’t pay taxes now might be called to task in the future?? 
Having just traveled in SE Asia, I’m hoping that plastic bottles and shit might be banned…and that the local communities get some sort of rubbish collection system happening. Otherwise tropical paradises are just ruined by the sheer volume of crap that is washed up in creeks and beaches. Oh, and the same here in western countries…the quicker we ban shopping bags and disposable bottles, the better our lives will be in the future.
It could all go the other way; if nationalism/racism becomes more prevalent then future people, in their ethnically cleansed countries, may think it was abhorrent for us to accept immigrants and dilute their good culture/bloodlines with those of dirty foreigners & immigrants.
It will be considered child abuse to not genetically engineer your child in the womb to be a genius.
Being poor will be accepted as a moral failing and those horrid dirty plebs will be shoved down mineshafts by loyal, hardworking robo-police
If by “in the fringes” you mean that we believe it to be a right, yes.
Insanely loud motorcycles.
Speculating that, in the future, the things you personally believe to be morally/ethically true shall be universally accepted, and that those who disagree shall be thought of as barbaric.
Pets will continue their ascent as furbabies so that not giving them high-quality food, comfort and stimulation will be seen as morally culpable neglect. This will be helped by the fact that there’s good money to be made in convincing pet owners of that.
Cue G.K Chesterton:
“Remember when we used to drive cars ourselves?” Also, the Electoral College will be seen as an abomination that lasted far too long.
Some of us ran out of interesting things to talk about a long time ago and are just biding time until heart disease takes us.
Here’s a novel subject that has never come up in conversation before. Did anyone see what the republican president just did? What a stupid, cruel criminal.
There is a general trend line towards social liberalism, justice and egalitarianism that has existed since the industrial revolution. Despite localized setbacks the overall global trend line is clear.
We aren’t anywhere near finished and who knows what reforms will happen in the future.
Kardashians
This seems to describe a great many responses to the OP. Lots of wishful thinking going on, but I am doubtful about many of these will actually come to pass.
First of all, public transportation is already heavily subsidized. Take my city’s bus service, for example. Last year they pulled in $7M in passenger fares, but they also received about $35M from local, state, and federal assistance. This means that your dream of people not paying for public transit is already 83% realized.
Same is typically true for water: cities budget tax dollars for maintenance of the public water supply/sewer systems, and only part of that actually comes from your water bills.
100% subsidy is hazardous. If people are not charged at least a nominal fee for their consumption of goods and services, fewer people will opt to be good stewards of those resources. Free water? Well dang, I’m gonna stretch my shower out to twenty minutes instead of ten, and I’m gonna water the everloving crap out of my grass. Maybe you won’t, because you’re environmentally conscious, but that’s definitely not everyone.
And tying back to what Sir T-Cups said, do you truly believe that these things will happen, or is it just something you wish would happen?
I hope the whole germ phobia thing dies a much deserved death.
I think the sport of football will disappear at some point. I still watch (it’s deeply ingrained from childhood), but every time I do, I feel more and more like I’m watching a Roman circus.