Buzz
There are two common views of the future: one is a utopian dream where all our problems vanish, and everyone lives happily ever after; the other is a desolate wasteland of endless despair. Right now, I’m betting on the latter. And there’s good reason for that: from technology to climate changes to the actions of our own governments, the future seems to have a singular goal—our demise. Think I’m exaggerating? Let me show you why:
10. Terminators
LARs may sound like the name of a chilled-out Dutch stoner, but it's actually an acronym for something much more chilling: Lethal Autonomous Robots. These machines do exactly what their name suggests. In essence, LARs are self-operating combat units designed to replace human soldiers in battle zones—programmed to ruthlessly eliminate anything in their way. Think of them as the stuff of James Cameron's nightmare from thirty years ago, mixed with that unforgettable scene from Robocop.
Naturally, the logic behind this seems sound; deploying our future robotic overlords into battle instead of human soldiers should (in theory) spare countless lives. But recent trials with drones have already shown that automation often results in devastating civilian casualties and an increase in paranoia and extremism in the affected regions. If drones are already driving people to join Al-Qaeda, just imagine what a swarm of Terminators terrorizing North-West Pakistan might do to their recruitment efforts. And while we’re on the topic of drones…
9. Domestic Drones
One of the more disturbing revelations this month has been the discovery that the FBI routinely uses drones within the United States. Unlike the massive machines that hover over the Middle East, raining destruction on weddings and similar events, these 'domestic' drones are small—about the size of a model airplane—and are used solely for surveillance. Considering what we’ve already uncovered about the NSA, the idea of fleets of spy drones constantly monitoring the civilian population should be cause for concern; and things might be about to get much worse.
Scientists are on the brink of creating fully-autonomous, bee-sized robots. Once that technology is in place, it won’t be long before we see tiny cameras buzzing through the air, watching our every move. At that point, our privacy will essentially be gone. Everyone—me, you, your partner, your mother—will be subject to what could amount to 24/7 surveillance. It might sound like the stuff of paranoid fantasies, but so does a secret government agency constantly tracking all our communications. And, as with the NSA, we likely won’t know about it until it’s already in motion.
8. Rising Sea Levels
There’s no denying it: our climate is shifting. We recently crossed the historic threshold of four hundred parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and all indicators suggest a looming 'climateocalypse.' Of all the apocalyptic scenarios we might face due to this, perhaps none is as visually striking as rising sea levels. Right now, half of the global population resides in coastal areas—and as 'The Day After Tomorrow' showed us, humans and massive flooding don’t exactly coexist peacefully.
For a glimpse into the devastating future, just look at the Alaskan village of Newtok. In as little as five years, the entire town of four hundred people could be submerged, with the US Army Corps of Engineers predicting that the highest point of the town will be underwater by 2017. But it’s not just remote villages at risk. Current projections indicate that Venice will be uninhabitable by 2100, with Amsterdam and Los Angeles likely to be abandoned fifty years after that. When these events unfold, millions of displaced people will flood into 'safer' cities, igniting fierce competition for resources and posing a danger to all, whether we live on higher ground or not.
7. The Next Pandemic
As we stand in 2013, we are long overdue for a pandemic. There have been ominous warnings: SARS in the early 2000s, swine flu in 2009, and the constant threat of bird flu—but the last time the world experienced a catastrophic flu outbreak was far too long ago. And that’s concerning because it means the chances of a major pandemic are growing higher with every passing day.
Make no mistake—an actual pandemic could cause everything from crashing the global economy to eliminating five percent of the world’s population. When the most devastating flu pandemic ever recorded struck in 1918, it left a scar on humanity greater than the toll of World War One itself. At its peak, the Spanish Flu was claiming a million lives each week—outpacing the Black Death’s death toll in a single year, compared to the century it took for the plague to claim its victims. And we're due for another one. It might not be as severe, and it may take a few more years to hit—but the chilling truth is that it is on its way, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
6. Antibiotic Resistant Microbes
But hey, we might not even be around long enough to face the second coming of the Spanish Flu. You’ve probably heard of antibiotic resistance—it’s the very thing most likely to take you out in the next fifty years. After decades of over-prescribing medication, bacteria are adapting to our everyday antibiotics. So, we’ll just give out stronger drugs, right? Sure—until those stop working too. And then we’ll be in deep trouble.
This isn’t some dystopian fantasy; it's happening right now. The World Health Organization reports that four hundred thousand resistant infections occur each year in Europe alone, resulting in 25,000 deaths. And the situation is only getting worse: as more unqualified doctors hand out unnecessary prescriptions, and as farmers inject antibiotics into their livestock, resistance levels climb. So, what happens next? Do we discover a new 'miracle drug'—or lose all the health advances we've made over the past century?
5. Peak Oil
Did you catch the latest news? Peak Oil—the moment when global oil production begins its irreversible decline, leading to a Mad Max-style dystopia—is apparently no longer a concern. According to Time, breakthroughs like fracking have 'restructured the oil market,' meaning this particular doomsday scenario will never come to pass. Close call, huh?
Far from it. The issue with Time's report is that it's fundamentally flawed. Don't believe me? Here's the very person who coined the term 'peak oil' explaining why it's still a reality. And here's the Washington Post echoing the same concern. No matter how much we throw at alternative extraction techniques, oil is a limited resource. Peak Oil is as unavoidable as the sunrise or bad Eddie Murphy movies—the only real question is 'when.' And disturbingly, the answer might be 'right now.' There's research suggesting that our current financial crisis could be worsening due to declining oil production, meaning total economic collapse could be just a few years away.
4. Growing Extremism
As I’ve mentioned before, the world is rapidly becoming a darker, more hate-fueled place. We’re all familiar with the ongoing threat of terrorism and our own frightening responses to it; however, the rise of extremism today goes far deeper than just that.
Take Greece, for example. The birthplace of Western civilization recently plunged into a financial abyss, and the aftermath has been far from pleasant. Amidst the despair, fascist movements have emerged like mushrooms after rain. One of these groups—Golden Dawn—now draws thousands of otherwise ordinary people to their rallies, despite their known history of murdering immigrants. With Europe’s situation growing increasingly unstable, it’s easy to imagine we’re reliving the 1930s, having learned nothing from the past.
Even within our own borders, extremism is gaining traction. Just last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported a record number of so-called 'patriot' groups—organizations like the KKK that are so far right they would rather see their nation crumble than deviate from their own agendas. As long as the economy continues to plummet, these groups will keep emerging: and given the global recession’s persistence, that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon.
3. Global Famine
Thanks to erratic weather patterns, economic instability, and a rapidly growing population, we’re heading towards a future plagued by widespread starvation. In 2008, the price of grain shot up, leaving millions either hungry or dead. And this is just a taste of what’s to come. According to the Guardian, we’re on the brink of a global disaster—and if you think it won’t affect you, think again.
You see, hungry people don’t just lie down and die. They get angry. You’ve probably heard about the French Revolution—when starving peasants revolted, leading to The Terror, a period in which more than forty thousand people were executed. One of the main causes of this revolution was the famine that ravaged the country. Or take the Irish Potato Famine, where British intervention made things worse, causing the deaths of about 1.5 million people. A worldwide famine could lead to riots, revolutions, and global instability with devastating consequences. And according to the UN, this could happen sometime in 2013.
2. The New Social Contract
The social contract as we know it might not even survive the robot uprising. You’ve likely heard some politician argue that we need to be “more like China.” Well, it’s already happening—just as China is slowly shifting closer to the US model. As the West weakens workers' rights and China abandons its “communist” ideals for full-blown capitalism, the divide between the two is starting to blur more and more.
Sound paranoid? Let’s break it down: Which government spies on its citizens? Both. Which government prosecutes journalists for merely doing their job? Both. Which government arrests innocent people it doesn’t like, keeping them locked up without charge indefinitely? Both. Still think I’m exaggerating? Here’s Ai Weiwei, an artist who faced harsh treatment by Chinese authorities, admitting he finds it hard to distinguish between the two.
Now, I’m not claiming that our societies are identical. Right now, I’d pick the West over China without a second thought. However, as we continue to compete in the near future, we’ll likely see our cultures becoming eerily similar, apart from the surface-level rhetoric. It’s like the last line of Animal Farm:
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
1. Mechanization
I’ve got some bad news for you, future leaders. No matter how much you study, no matter which degree you pursue, you’re likely to spend most of your life underpaid and undervalued. And for this, you can blame the robots.
That last link leads to an article likely crafted to crush all your optimistic dreams about the future. Right now, it appears we’re on the brink of a major AI breakthrough. Experts predict it’ll happen around 2025, at which point the job market will be completely upended. A true AI revolution would involve creating machines capable of doing everything a human can do. Since machines don’t need breaks, don’t ask for raises, and don’t waste time on social media during work hours, employers will have no reason to keep human workers around.
When this occurs, the whole social structure will likely spiral out of control. Can you envision a scenario where the government sustains nearly the entire population through handouts? Certainly not. So what’s in store? Devastating unemployment, widespread civil unrest, and ongoing hardship seem inevitable. Robots will eventually surpass humans in roles like doctors, stockbrokers, CEOs, and unfortunately, even article writers. See you in the unemployment line come 2025.
