OUR WORLD
The American Dream
has been lost, with
its assumption of
independent production
on one’s own land ...
That’s it. Simple. Effective. While there are as many
ways to use this structure as there are futurists and
anthropologists, when we put these together, we
have a pretty complete idea of what’s been happening and what’s emerging. And much of what
can be said about what’s going on in our world today can be described and dealt with in these terms.
For example, describing one set of trends and indicators within this system gives us the following
image of the US:
• Our social systems are breaking down. From religious organization through schools, businesses, service clubs, and government agencies,
they’re over institutionalized and administratively heavy, and many no longer serve the primary purpose for which they were created;
• Our technological systems are not keeping up
with the innovations occurring in the technological sector, in large part due to the breakdown of the social systems. Many technological
solutions to large scale problems are not being
implemented; others are being implemented
without adequate assurances of safety for the
affected population; still others are transforming the way social systems function more rapidly
than the heavily institutionalized structures can
shift.
• Our economic systems have become extremely
inefficient. Our debt-based economy, the first
in the history of humanity, produces and moves
the fewest goods and services for the most resources and effort ever known, even as the technology being developed increases productivity
immensely.
• Our impacts on the natural environment are
huge – and often horrifying. Huge deserts are
being formed around the world, vast stretches of the ocean are “dead zones”, forests are
disappearing, and fertile farmlands are being
transformed into vast expanses of concrete and
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asphalt. And Nature is responding in kind, with
more intense storms, shifting climates, and devastating earthquakes.
• The US federal government is at a virtual standstill, with Congress having too many members to
agree on anything and its leaders fighting along
party lines that have been defined by outside interest groups. Local governments are limited by
their dependence on federal funds and the regulations that go with them. Instant communication and constant televising of carefully selected
issues and sound bites make the electorate feel
involved while being kept almost totally uninformed about what is being said and done by
the representatives they’ve elected.
• There have always been multiple values sets
in the US but in recent years they’ve become
increasingly polarized, with the “other” being more and more demonized. The American
Dream has been lost, with its assumption of independent production on one’s own land and
minimal consumption and dependence on others, household-by-household.
This assessment is a snapshot. Looking at the relationships between these sectors over time is the
basis for generating scenarios for the future.
PROJECTING POSSIBILITIES
For several decades, a common practice has been
to project the trends in these areas to describe
three extreme possible descriptions and suggest
that the actual future will lie somewhere between
them. The usual set includes: