2057: Predictions of Life in 50 Years

Well, here we go, back into the future! It's 2057 now and I'm over 90! 50 years ago, I would have never bet that I'd still be alive. But the quality of life isn't what I would have thought it would be. Along with the medical advances that have kept me alive, came medical advances that are keeping everyone alive longer.

With a world population approaching 24 billion people on Earth, and another 2 billion living in the space stations, you'd think we'd place a higher emphasis on communication, but we haven't learned anything in that regard. The people of the universe are still unable to appreciate the value of good, honest dialogue. It's a wonder we still have vocal chords. Back in the late 1900's, even while the United States of America was still a super power, we conducted business by pushing buttons on the phone to communicate with the computers. People typed messages into their phones to their friends and when people didn't agree about something, we didn't talk. There were guns and bombs. Heh heh. Whoever had the biggest weapon, won the debate!

Now we have more surveillance capabilities than ever, but only the powers that be have access to most of it. Since the powers that were convinced people to have their kids "safety scanned" in case they got abducted, we've got a whole generation that can't get away from "being protected". Society as a whole is much better behaved. What with cameras at every 600 feet in urban areas and every three miles in the few areas still considered rural, a guy can't scratch his ass without getting a citation transmitted via satellite to his Detrimental Behavior Data Base (DBDB). If you say something that's considered bad taste, that hits the DBDB too. Once your data base gets to a certain level in the main frame, they start taking away your medical privileges. Personally, I've out-lived my usefulness and am just using up scarce natural resources anyway. I'm ready to meet my maker. There's something about living like this that I don't find the fun in.