5 years time predictions

[Andy Hamilton]

Whilst talking about the possibility of woolworths going bust I thought what else might happen in the future. Here is my predictions for what might happen over the next 5 years. Not saying I want them to happen but it is what I think might happen.

Woolworths out of business
Anti-T***o protesters get 100 stores closed down.
Al Gore returns to politics
Tory govenment in the UK
War in Syria and Iran
SSish book best seller in UK and Australia (I can dream)
Dave will buy someone else a pint (only if above is true)
First Quantum computer gets built
Bernard Matthews goes bust
Mass flooding and hurricanes in various US states forces America to readdress its eco policies.
rising Oil Prices force a massive increase in solar panel and wind turbine sales.

Lets have a look back in 2011 and see if this is correct.

[Martin]

by 2011, the UK wil be a "total control" state - all members of the population routinely dna tested - all data stored on central linked databases - you upset the cretin in the poll tax office, he'll have full access to ALL your records!
(not so far-fetched, it IS happening, the legislation is already in place for the database and access)
We will have neighbourhood "stasi" members reporting on our activities to central office - the "knock in the night" will be here for those with the temerity to use a hosepipe, or who refuse to toe the state line on any one of a thousand things
Mass compulsory medication will be starting - already doctors will tell you that you are "pre-hypotensive" when you have totally normal blood pressure, and slap you on the very dubious statins!
Following pressure from the US, our fields will be flooded with GM planting, and all organic farming will be wiped out as a consequence.
And after a combination of spring tides, high water, and some by now seasonal gales, vast tracts of land wil be "doing a New Orleans", and society will be threatening to break down.................

[Wombat]

Andy and Dave..........................Joint Ecodictators! (of the most benevolent kind of course!)

[Millymollymandy]

by 2011, the UK wil be a "total control" state - all members of the population routinely dna tested - all data stored on central linked databases - you upset the cretin in the poll tax office, he'll have full access to ALL your records!
(not so far-fetched, it IS happening, the legislation is already in place for the database and access)
We will have neighbourhood "stasi" members reporting on our activities to central office - the "knock in the night" will be here for those with the temerity to use a hosepipe, or who refuse to toe the state line on any one of a thousand things
Mass compulsory medication will be starting - already doctors will tell you that you are "pre-hypotensive" when you have totally normal blood pressure, and slap you on the very dubious statins!
Following pressure from the US, our fields will be flooded with GM planting, and all organic farming will be wiped out as a consequence.
And after a combination of spring tides, high water, and some by now seasonal gales, vast tracts of land wil be "doing a New Orleans", and society will be threatening to break down.................

So when are you emigrating Martin?

[Martin]

I'm sorely tempted!

[Ranter]

I too considered that Martin, but circumstances (illness, financial meltdown) have forced me to stay & fight (in the non-violent sense of the word). Fortunately, there are others of the same mind, so we're holding the first meeting of the local No2ID group tomorrow.

My vision for 5yrs hence is more of a wish than a prediction: I will be healthy & there will be a cure for CFS available on the NHS without a 2yr (or longer) waiting list. Of this, this means there has to still be a NHS.

[Boots]

5 years...? Well, the way time has been scootin along, I figure that is just a mere blink, or hiccup maybe.

2011? mmm. Our predictions? (mine and Zaras I mean..)

I think this weird new training push that has taken place will lead to mass compensation claims from all industries, as the government continues to 'equip' folks with nonsense certificates that lead to a false sense of security in service providers.

Pack, flock and herd animals will continue their revolution against the industrialised world.

Australia's east coast will be the target of mass whale beachings.

Corn will be used to create the next fuel.

Cane toads will be used to eradicate cockroaches.

Emphasymia will be linked to fuel emissions, petrol syphoning and chemical contaminants that exist beyond smoking.

The Royals will lose a family member and welcome another through marriage.

Macrame will come back into vogue.

Bush turkeys will become city menaces.

The water in Blackpool will migrate back to Australia (and hopefully the blackpiddlians will send bottles of Blackpool candy across on the tide).

Swimming pools will revert to assisted aquatic environments and folks will consider swimming with fish in preference to soaking their bodies in chlorine.

Homeless people will be given tents and offered sites outside their Prime Ministers windows.

Solar panels will become available in $2 shops all over the world.

English people will get tired of waiting years for allotments and just come to Australia to garden.

Nev will open the first inner city Self Sufficientish Display Home in Australia, followed closely by Boots's Eco-Ag Billabong and Bush Retreat somewhere near Paradise

[Stonehead]

Pretty much the same as now. Steepening decline but everyone turning a blind eye, promoting quick fixes and generally grabbing what they can.

Bureaucrats and politicians working hand in glove with big business to bring in more controls and removing freedoms, all in our best interest of course, to protect us from the enemies without and within.

And most people just going along with all. Just like now.

Yes, I'm cynical but I just don't see people changing much in the next five years. It's taken thousands of years for humans to get to this point - can we suddenly start getting it right in five years...

[Shirley]

everyone will fly in little mini spaceships
we'll get our food from a machine that vends little tablets providing a whole day's food in one...
there will be no war

Oh... sorry, in 5 years time...

Those were the predictions I wrote when I was in primary school for how life would be in 2010...

as to what it will be like in 5 years time... I doubt it will change that much really. 60s/70s/80s/90s fashions probably back in vogue... one or all of them... robbie williams might run for PM... Andy & Dave might appear on ready steady cook... !!

[Muddypause]

I think some of the changes that happen seem to occur without really being noticed, somehow.

Five years is perhaps not quite long enough to be really interesting, but one single generation can see big changes. The general framework of society will still be recogniseable, but consider that 25 years ago the WorldWideWeb was still years away, there were no mobile phones, or even cordless ones. Nothing in daily life was prefixed by the word 'digital'. Microwave ovens were still an industrial experiment. No cars had catalytic converters. Lead was still in petrol, and Nelson Mandela was still in jail in an apartheid regime. Lennon was recently alive. Band Aid/Live Aid had not been thought of; we were still getting over punk-rock, and music was still played on record players. Radio Caroline still weathered the storms at sea. There were only 3 UK TV channels, and satelites were unreliable things for important news reports only ("Sorry, we'll have to end there because we're just running out of time on the sat...bzzzz"). The video recorder has gone from being and expensive luxury (in a choice of formats) to being obsolete.

Oh, and the world was about to be dominated by Thatcher and Reagan, while the Eastern bloc cowered into economic catastrophy.

And I had hair on me head, and a waist measurement that was less than my leg length.

The next five years will bring some changes that we think are good, and some we think are bad, but it will bring changes.