Predictions of The Future

I am not a seer or a wizard. I do not claim to possess any psychic powers but based on what I see around myself, I am in a position just as suitable to make predictions of the future. It doesn’t take supernatural powers to see what is yet to be. I read about the past and then draw inferences based on how the trends of the modern day will play out to affect the future of mankind. I believe that my predictions will be generally accurate of the years to come. I guess we’ll have to see.

Contrary to what many people envision when they imagine what the future will bring, I do not foresee any great, transformative changes occurring within the next few decades. The second law of thermodynamics states that when no new energy is introduced into a closed system, that system will naturally tend towards disorder and entropy. This is what I am seeing now in the current state of political affairs. In nations all over the globe, there is a severe lack of change in the political philosophies of their leaders. In the United States, the distinction between Republican and Democrat has gradually faded into non-existence. The countries of Europe have kept the same basic leadership since the Second World War (with a few exceptions). The eradication of Communism was the last notable landmark of political change in the last thirty years. Without the element of revolutionary political change, then according to the second law of thermodynamics, the state of Western civilization is going to continue its state of gradual decline. The energy that is lacked in politics are revolutionary leaders who can induce substantial change instead of the puppet-politicians who all represent either side of the same coin. The entropy that is the consequence of this is in the form of economic decline, technological decline, military decline and the erosion of freedom.

In the right lighting, they probably even look the same

Another factor that will bring about the entropy of mankind is the lack of war. War is painted as evil and destructive and immoral (which you could make a pretty cogent argument for). However, war is necessary to invoke large-scale social change and evolutionary progress. Most significant historical changes have been a result of armed conflict. The Roman Empire didn’t attain the power it had simply by asking nicely for its territories. The British Empire didn’t become the largest empire in the world by winning the lottery. The enormous impact that these empires had on civilization was brought about by their military dominance. Because there have not been any large-scale wars (the likes of WWII) in the past seventy years, stagnation and political decline are the result. War is necessary for the natural evolution of mankind. It helps to control unmanageable population growth and the mass mobilization of war has produced numerous technological and scientific discoveries.

Because of nuclear weapons, the fear of war has prevented any such catalysts for armed conflict. The destruction caused by modern nuclear arms has the potential to wipe out the human race more than once. This justification has resulted in the avoidance of large-scale wars since 1945. This trend will continue until such a conflict becomes unavoidable.

If there is to be a large, transformative war in the next fifty years, I believe it will be the result of two possible scenarios:

1.      The tensions against Israel will mount and one or more Arab countries will declare war on them. If Israel can still count on the support of the United States and other western states to assist them, then the war will be fought mainly by the US against probably Iran or Pakistan.

2.      Pakistan will Invade India. China and the US will be drawn into the conflict and eventually end up in a total war.

Either way, the use of nuclear arms is inevitable within the next two hundred years or so. The lack of energy created by the lack of war will result in the stagnation of the human race.  We as a species can only exist in a state of entropy for so long before a catalyst will produce a large-scale social and political change like a war. Humans naturally are a species prone to conflicts. To enforce a state of peace is at the expense of the natural evolution of mankind. The future will bring about entropy until a grandiose social or political change that will likely come in the form of a war. My prediction of the future may appear dark, but it is only a reflection of the past and on the harsh nature of reality.

Do you have a better prediction of the future? Do you agree/disagree with me? Post it as a comment below. All opinions are welcome. (Unless you are a Visigoth, in which case, fuck off!)