Not every prediction came true
February 27, 2024 1:46 AM Subscribe
The top thinkers of 1974 were gathered together in the pages of “Saturday Review,” for a special issue celebrating that magazine’s 50th anniversary. In a series of essays, each one tried to imagine their world 50 more years into the future, in the far-away year of 2024 ... The future they’d hoped for — or feared for — is detailed and debated, offering readers of today a surprisingly clear picture of the future they’d expected in 1974. from 50 Years Later: Remembering How the Future Looked in 1974 [The New Stack]
One of the (many) things that just feel like a weight around the neck, pulling me down, is just how much, as a kid, I looked forward to the future. I loved science fiction, and consumed as much as I could in any form I could get it. I was hopeful and excited, and I believed in the possibilities the future promised, with a naive sort of belief that things would always get better because that’s how the world was.
One of the reasons it’s so difficult to deal with is the shame of a rube being conned out of a nest egg, a desire to keep anyone from knowing just how gullible I was. No, no flying cars, no cities on the moon. Not even the darkest possible future. It’s the dumbest future, in that it looks just like it did, but with more convenient ways to distract ourselves from how disappointing it is.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:29 AM on February 27 [42 favorites]
One of the reasons it’s so difficult to deal with is the shame of a rube being conned out of a nest egg, a desire to keep anyone from knowing just how gullible I was. No, no flying cars, no cities on the moon. Not even the darkest possible future. It’s the dumbest future, in that it looks just like it did, but with more convenient ways to distract ourselves from how disappointing it is.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:29 AM on February 27 [42 favorites]
One of the reasons it’s so difficult to deal with is the shame of a rube being conned out of a nest egg, a desire to keep anyone from knowing just how gullible I was.
I wouldn't say this is a matter of you being gullible. I would say this is a matter of a small handful of people being colossally selfish.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:39 AM on February 27 [37 favorites]
I wouldn't say this is a matter of you being gullible. I would say this is a matter of a small handful of people being colossally selfish.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:39 AM on February 27 [37 favorites]
The older I get, the more I find this happens to me:
I'm sitting in my car, driving through the city, looking out of the windscreen at the world going by, and I find myself saying to myself 'Hang on. It's <insert the current year>. Why is it still like this?'
posted by Cardinal Fang at 3:30 AM on February 27 [16 favorites]
I'm sitting in my car, driving through the city, looking out of the windscreen at the world going by, and I find myself saying to myself 'Hang on. It's <insert the current year>. Why is it still like this?'
posted by Cardinal Fang at 3:30 AM on February 27 [16 favorites]
No, no flying cars, no cities on the moon.
In a way, I'm grateful. Because if there were flying cars, or cities on the moon, today in 2024, they'd be produced and owned by fascist man-child edgelords.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 3:31 AM on February 27 [16 favorites]
In a way, I'm grateful. Because if there were flying cars, or cities on the moon, today in 2024, they'd be produced and owned by fascist man-child edgelords.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 3:31 AM on February 27 [16 favorites]
I'm waiting for drones to deliver my damn cat litter boxes from Amazon.
posted by Czjewel at 3:49 AM on February 27 [4 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 3:49 AM on February 27 [4 favorites]
they'd be produced and owned by fascist man-child edgelords
Hence, the dumbest possible future.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:40 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Hence, the dumbest possible future.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:40 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
People are so bad at driving regular cars, I think it's for the best we didn't get flying ones. Although there are fewer pedestrians in the air I suppose.
posted by Foosnark at 4:45 AM on February 27 [20 favorites]
posted by Foosnark at 4:45 AM on February 27 [20 favorites]
Not necessarily true, Foosnark because we were also promised jetpacks
posted by ashbury at 5:05 AM on February 27 [23 favorites]
posted by ashbury at 5:05 AM on February 27 [23 favorites]
Holy crap, that pic of the TWA ad for their new 1011! The none-too-subtle separator between the white couple and the black gentleman. It literally screams “Don’t worry. We’ll keep them away from you.” Good grief.
And the only other black person in the pic is being visually walled-off from the rest of the passengers by the attendant. Damn.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:11 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
And the only other black person in the pic is being visually walled-off from the rest of the passengers by the attendant. Damn.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:11 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
I always find it more fascinating the way people get little details wrong thsn the big swings and misses so my favorite is where they predict the internet completely and then think that we will print newspapers at home to read them.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:33 AM on February 27 [14 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 5:33 AM on February 27 [14 favorites]
Holy crap, that pic of the TWA ad for their new 1011!
Indeed. I will say, though, that those suits are… less 1974 than a lot of 1974 clothes were. It was the Era of the Wide (ties, lapels, collars, sideburns), but unfortunate racist implications aside, these pics aren’t anywhere near as dated as a lot of ads from the time.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:33 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
Indeed. I will say, though, that those suits are… less 1974 than a lot of 1974 clothes were. It was the Era of the Wide (ties, lapels, collars, sideburns), but unfortunate racist implications aside, these pics aren’t anywhere near as dated as a lot of ads from the time.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:33 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
I loved science fiction, and consumed as much as I could in any form I could get it. I was hopeful and excited, and I believed in the possibilities the future promised, with a naive sort of belief that things would always get better because that’s how the world was.
I loved by science fiction too. Which is why I'm not all that dissatisfied with the way things have turned out.
I always find it more fascinating the way people get little details wrong thsn the big swings and misses so my favorite is where they predict the internet completely and then think that we will print newspapers at home to read them.
Park your flying car so you could use a phone booth!
posted by 2N2222 at 5:45 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
I loved by science fiction too. Which is why I'm not all that dissatisfied with the way things have turned out.
I always find it more fascinating the way people get little details wrong thsn the big swings and misses so my favorite is where they predict the internet completely and then think that we will print newspapers at home to read them.
Park your flying car so you could use a phone booth!
posted by 2N2222 at 5:45 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
I'll tell you, though, I lusted after those typewriters with the cartridge ribbons.
Granted, the Saturday Review was a conservative magazine, but TWO Nazis AND Norman Podhoretz? Sheesh. No wonder the future sucks.
posted by briank at 6:08 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
Granted, the Saturday Review was a conservative magazine, but TWO Nazis AND Norman Podhoretz? Sheesh. No wonder the future sucks.
posted by briank at 6:08 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
I hate to break it to the author, but Polaroid cameras were not new in 1974. They'd already been around for 26 years. New model, sure. New technology, not so much.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:20 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:20 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
Omitted from the future presented in the Saturday Review, but very much circulating in 1974: Population Bomb, Silent Spring, the emergence of concern among scientists about increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere from fossil fuels and the possibility of anthropogenic climate change.
We seem to have diffused the population bomb, although some tech bros and economists now fear the lower population future. The spring is getting quieter with a continued collapse of insect populations.
posted by interogative mood at 6:21 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
We seem to have diffused the population bomb, although some tech bros and economists now fear the lower population future. The spring is getting quieter with a continued collapse of insect populations.
posted by interogative mood at 6:21 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
I always find it more fascinating the way people get little details wrong thsn the big swings and misses so my favorite is where they predict the internet completely and then think that we will print newspapers at home to read them.
Keep in mind communications cost by minute back then. Twelve years later, I was pulling up news on Compuserve, then printing it all out to read. That was because the service charged by the minute, and the long distance charges to the nearest server were even more costly.
posted by Miss Cellania at 7:01 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
Keep in mind communications cost by minute back then. Twelve years later, I was pulling up news on Compuserve, then printing it all out to read. That was because the service charged by the minute, and the long distance charges to the nearest server were even more costly.
posted by Miss Cellania at 7:01 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
i do not want flying diesel F-150s hovering over libraries rolling coal from the skies
posted by MonsieurPEB at 7:25 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
posted by MonsieurPEB at 7:25 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
Scattered throughout Asimov’s clippings were hints of our future ... and “over 99% of the computer programmers who ever lived are alive now.”
Scarily prescient, how did he know that GPT(n) would be eliminating an entire field?
-----
Flying cars are real now, just can't get into production due to excellent safety regs. Here, just think, what happens if you get a brake light knocked out? Replace, with an FAA regulated car that goes to a flight engineer to replace and certify.
posted by sammyo at 7:54 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Scarily prescient, how did he know that GPT(n) would be eliminating an entire field?
-----
Flying cars are real now, just can't get into production due to excellent safety regs. Here, just think, what happens if you get a brake light knocked out? Replace, with an FAA regulated car that goes to a flight engineer to replace and certify.
posted by sammyo at 7:54 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Aww, Terrafugia, the flying car up the street from me, shutdown.
Helix is taking pre-orders.
posted by sammyo at 8:02 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Helix is taking pre-orders.
posted by sammyo at 8:02 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
the book of predictions came out in 1980 and is quite entertaining and interesting - it's a detailed. comprehensive look at the future, and it's pretty wrong
you might find this in paperback, too - i have a copy
posted by pyramid termite at 8:06 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
you might find this in paperback, too - i have a copy
posted by pyramid termite at 8:06 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Someone has to say it. Where's my damn flying cars?
They're called helicopters
posted by FatherDagon at 8:08 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
They're called helicopters
posted by FatherDagon at 8:08 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
It’s the dumbest future, in that
of all the possible ubiquitous personal telecommunication devices we could have all committed to, we chose fucking "smart" phones that require both our eyes and hands in order to properly operate. So inevitably, we're crossing the road, not looking both ways, not even looking where we're going actually, just hoping those assholes who are still driving gas guzzling, climate destroying automobiles care more about our life-and-limb than we do. And then there's the mass surveillance angle.
And yet I am impressed (so far) with the continued avoidance of world wars.
posted by philip-random at 8:32 AM on February 27 [3 favorites]
of all the possible ubiquitous personal telecommunication devices we could have all committed to, we chose fucking "smart" phones that require both our eyes and hands in order to properly operate. So inevitably, we're crossing the road, not looking both ways, not even looking where we're going actually, just hoping those assholes who are still driving gas guzzling, climate destroying automobiles care more about our life-and-limb than we do. And then there's the mass surveillance angle.
And yet I am impressed (so far) with the continued avoidance of world wars.
posted by philip-random at 8:32 AM on February 27 [3 favorites]
"every day we're bombarded by choices. We need to make instant decisions. We're in endless combat with our own environment and all its pace and variety. It's choice and over-choice."
posted by philip-random at 8:36 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 8:36 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
1994: The World Of Tomorrow was published by U.S. News and World Report in 1973 and is also pretty interesting. It's where I learned all about SAFEGE monorails.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:42 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:42 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
interrogative mood: Omitted from the future presented in the Saturday Review, but very much circulating in 1974: Population Bomb
The Population Bomb is a racist tract whose every prediction has proved embarrassingly wrong. For an entertaining and thorough run-through of the book I recommend Michael Hobbes’ and Peter Shamshiri’s episode on it on their podcast If Books Could Kill.
posted by Kattullus at 8:43 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
The Population Bomb is a racist tract whose every prediction has proved embarrassingly wrong. For an entertaining and thorough run-through of the book I recommend Michael Hobbes’ and Peter Shamshiri’s episode on it on their podcast If Books Could Kill.
posted by Kattullus at 8:43 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
Professor Frink: Well, sure, the Frinkiac 7 looks impressive - don't touch it! - but I predict that within 100 years computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings of Europe will own them.
Apu: Could it be used for dating?
Professor Frink: Well, theoretically, yes. But the computer matches would be so perfect as to eliminate the thrill of romantic conquest.
The Simpsons, “Much Apu About Nothing”, Season 7, Episode 23
posted by star gentle uterus at 8:52 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
Apu: Could it be used for dating?
Professor Frink: Well, theoretically, yes. But the computer matches would be so perfect as to eliminate the thrill of romantic conquest.
The Simpsons, “Much Apu About Nothing”, Season 7, Episode 23
posted by star gentle uterus at 8:52 AM on February 27 [7 favorites]
"smart" phones that require both our eyes and hands in order to properly operate
Both Android and iOS are actively hostile to me interacting with the phone in the only way I tend to interact with phones: while away from my home, wearing a headset, doing things that require my attention, with the phone put away in a safe place inside an item of clothing or bag.
It doesn't work to the degree that I'm convinced there is a desire on the part of the companies to make sure it will not ever work. Not having my eyes on a screen is counter to so, so many "stakeholders'" interests. The phone lapsing into sudden silence, without any feedback or audio message, until I can stop what I am currently doing (with my attention now unsafely split) and LOOK and POKE at the screen to dismiss whatever notice had just commandeered my interface (or just see that yep, I'd slipped into a dead zone, why am I not even informed of this basic and common occurrence) seems like an experience that is the result of a conscious design decision.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:57 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
Both Android and iOS are actively hostile to me interacting with the phone in the only way I tend to interact with phones: while away from my home, wearing a headset, doing things that require my attention, with the phone put away in a safe place inside an item of clothing or bag.
It doesn't work to the degree that I'm convinced there is a desire on the part of the companies to make sure it will not ever work. Not having my eyes on a screen is counter to so, so many "stakeholders'" interests. The phone lapsing into sudden silence, without any feedback or audio message, until I can stop what I am currently doing (with my attention now unsafely split) and LOOK and POKE at the screen to dismiss whatever notice had just commandeered my interface (or just see that yep, I'd slipped into a dead zone, why am I not even informed of this basic and common occurrence) seems like an experience that is the result of a conscious design decision.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:57 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
>SAFEGE monorails
designed my short time in Tokyo last year for that ride, yes. Helps that it terminates in Enoshima, LOL.
posted by torokunai at 9:06 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
designed my short time in Tokyo last year for that ride, yes. Helps that it terminates in Enoshima, LOL.
posted by torokunai at 9:06 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
People are so bad at driving regular cars, I think it's for the best we didn't get flying ones. Although there are fewer pedestrians in the air I suppose.
Not necessarily true, Foosnark because we were also promised jetpacks
The best part of flying cars/pedestrians is that any type of accident would include additional trauma from the quick hurtle back to the ground.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:48 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Not necessarily true, Foosnark because we were also promised jetpacks
The best part of flying cars/pedestrians is that any type of accident would include additional trauma from the quick hurtle back to the ground.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:48 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
That attack sounds like an echo of pro-life propaganda where anyone associated with birth control or family planning is attacked as a eugenicist/racist.
The effect of the book “The Population Bomb” was a lot of advocacy for birth control, women’s education, equality and participation in the work force. While it also influenced some draconian policies like China’s 1 Child Policy; the concerns it raised did seem to result in a global effort to reduce population growth rates. Falling birth rates and improved family planning have resulted in rising incomes and a reduction in poverty.
The book made its most dire predictions based on UN population growth forecasts. Those forecasts were incorrect. The book’s influence on policy makers may have played a role in that outcome.
Finally when the book was written famine was largely seen as a food scarcity problem caused by natural events vs a population size. It is now understood that famine / localized food scarcity is much more a problem of politics and distribution.
I remain convinced that the world is over populated. We are keeping things going by increasingly desperate and unsustainable means. Housing, food and water security is increasingly a problem; even though we also have problems in some places form abundance such aa obesity, McMansions and sprawl.
posted by interogative mood at 10:20 AM on February 27 [3 favorites]
The effect of the book “The Population Bomb” was a lot of advocacy for birth control, women’s education, equality and participation in the work force. While it also influenced some draconian policies like China’s 1 Child Policy; the concerns it raised did seem to result in a global effort to reduce population growth rates. Falling birth rates and improved family planning have resulted in rising incomes and a reduction in poverty.
The book made its most dire predictions based on UN population growth forecasts. Those forecasts were incorrect. The book’s influence on policy makers may have played a role in that outcome.
Finally when the book was written famine was largely seen as a food scarcity problem caused by natural events vs a population size. It is now understood that famine / localized food scarcity is much more a problem of politics and distribution.
I remain convinced that the world is over populated. We are keeping things going by increasingly desperate and unsustainable means. Housing, food and water security is increasingly a problem; even though we also have problems in some places form abundance such aa obesity, McMansions and sprawl.
posted by interogative mood at 10:20 AM on February 27 [3 favorites]
I'd rather be reincarnated tomorrow as a random Chinese national than a random Indian national, that's for sure . . . in 2050, India will have China's 2050 population + the US's current population. Makes me somber thinking about it.
posted by torokunai at 10:36 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
posted by torokunai at 10:36 AM on February 27 [1 favorite]
interogative mood, there is so much wrong with your comment that it reads like a parody.
The ones hoarding the world's wealth and resources could, at any moment, choose to relinquish those and all those pesky people overpopulating the planet would be provided for, at least in the intermediate term. But those billionaires are just so gosh darn charismatic, and who knows? I might get the chance to be a robber baron one day so we just need to keep supporting them.
Obesity being a "problem of abundance"??? Yeah, those Pacific Islanders just have it too good, I guess. As do the obese working poor in the US. They just shouldn't have all that food so easily accessible.
posted by tigrrrlily at 10:38 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
The ones hoarding the world's wealth and resources could, at any moment, choose to relinquish those and all those pesky people overpopulating the planet would be provided for, at least in the intermediate term. But those billionaires are just so gosh darn charismatic, and who knows? I might get the chance to be a robber baron one day so we just need to keep supporting them.
Obesity being a "problem of abundance"??? Yeah, those Pacific Islanders just have it too good, I guess. As do the obese working poor in the US. They just shouldn't have all that food so easily accessible.
posted by tigrrrlily at 10:38 AM on February 27 [5 favorites]
I'm pretty sure there will be flying cars and jetpacks, but I'm also pretty sure only assholes will use them.
From above, through a megaphone: "Hey, look at me! Up here! I'm the noise spoiling your afternoon in the garden, your walk in the woods, your day at the beach, your sleep! Loud?! You're damned right I'm loud. Loud pipes save lives!"
posted by pracowity at 10:43 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
From above, through a megaphone: "Hey, look at me! Up here! I'm the noise spoiling your afternoon in the garden, your walk in the woods, your day at the beach, your sleep! Loud?! You're damned right I'm loud. Loud pipes save lives!"
posted by pracowity at 10:43 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: it's a detailed, comprehensive look at the future, and it's pretty wrong
posted by chavenet at 11:28 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 11:28 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
the book of predictions came out in 1980 and is quite entertaining and interesting - it's a detailed. comprehensive look at the future, and it's pretty wrong
Put out by People's Almanac, which also used to have sections in their almanacs featuring predictions of the future . Needless to say, they didn't have the best success rate either.
People are so bad at driving regular cars, I think it's for the best we didn't get flying ones. Although there are fewer pedestrians in the air I suppose.
There's probably an alternate universe out there filled with YouTube channels of Flying Car Crashes and "Air Rage" incidents.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:44 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
Put out by People's Almanac, which also used to have sections in their almanacs featuring predictions of the future . Needless to say, they didn't have the best success rate either.
People are so bad at driving regular cars, I think it's for the best we didn't get flying ones. Although there are fewer pedestrians in the air I suppose.
There's probably an alternate universe out there filled with YouTube channels of Flying Car Crashes and "Air Rage" incidents.
posted by gtrwolf at 11:44 AM on February 27 [2 favorites]
"...the odds are not overwhelmingly against a French secession from Canada, spurred by the passions of Quebec province."
I wouldn't call Emmet John Hughes' thought unjustified, even though it's presented as one of the "incorrect" ones. By 1976 we had a secessionist party in power in Quebec and referenda in 1980 (lost 44/55) and then 1995 (lost 50.5/49.4). It was close.
His scenario of the further break-up of the remainder of Canada is credible too at least in the popular imagination, echoed in the political divides we still have. It was and still is one of the background anxieties in the country. The specter of falling into the US has long been part of our national inferiority complex.
posted by bonehead at 12:00 PM on February 27 [3 favorites]
I wouldn't call Emmet John Hughes' thought unjustified, even though it's presented as one of the "incorrect" ones. By 1976 we had a secessionist party in power in Quebec and referenda in 1980 (lost 44/55) and then 1995 (lost 50.5/49.4). It was close.
His scenario of the further break-up of the remainder of Canada is credible too at least in the popular imagination, echoed in the political divides we still have. It was and still is one of the background anxieties in the country. The specter of falling into the US has long been part of our national inferiority complex.
posted by bonehead at 12:00 PM on February 27 [3 favorites]
I have been to more than one vintage 60s/70s building were there's a "legend" that the architects extended all the staircases another flight up to the roof in order to future-proof the building for when we'd all be using flying cars and parking on the roof.
Never mind that it makes sense if you're going to have a staircase, you might as well tie it into whatever roof access you're including.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:06 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Never mind that it makes sense if you're going to have a staircase, you might as well tie it into whatever roof access you're including.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:06 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
I'm waiting for drones to deliver my damn cat litter boxes from Amazon.
Won't have to wait too much longer for that.
If your major-ish city is not currently writing drone delivery regulations, they are behind.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:19 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Won't have to wait too much longer for that.
If your major-ish city is not currently writing drone delivery regulations, they are behind.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:19 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Neil Armstrong predicted that within 50 years, “man will certainly have visited other celestial bodies, probably Mars and a few carefully selected asteroids.”
Sad.
Someone has to say it. Where's my damn flying cars?
Cars, schmars. Where is my freaking flying city?
posted by kirkaracha at 1:33 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Sad.
Someone has to say it. Where's my damn flying cars?
Cars, schmars. Where is my freaking flying city?
posted by kirkaracha at 1:33 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Obesity being a "problem of abundance"??? Yeah, those Pacific Islanders just have it too good, I guess. As do the obese working poor in the US. They just shouldn't have all that food so easily accessible
Contrary to your prejudiced statement above the likelihood of obesity rises with income. Obesity also isn’t a condition of moral failing nor a statement on how good people have it. It is mostly a consequence of human evolution and surplus available daily calories. It doesn’t matter how good the food is or the individual’s standard of living.
Our current agricultural output is enough to feed everyone. My point was that the output is not sustainable and that absent continued efforts to reduce the population by birth control and distribute it by migration we are in serious trouble as a species.
The agricultural abundance (poorly distributed though it is) is a result of unsustainable phosphate mining, natural gas being used to make nitrogen fertilizer. Other non-renewable energy sources required to mechanize agriculture and transport it. And of course aquifer exhaustion and the slow poisoning of the soil with pesticides. If we solved climate change tomorrow we’re still in serious trouble on the agricultural front.
This is before we even get into problems like where do we get all the concrete we need to provide basic sanitation and housing requirements — just providing our current 46% of you don’t get it level of service is generating a ton of emissions.
Or problems like what about all unhandled waste streams piling up everywhere and generating impacts like microplastics and oceanic garbage patches.
posted by interogative mood at 3:58 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Contrary to your prejudiced statement above the likelihood of obesity rises with income. Obesity also isn’t a condition of moral failing nor a statement on how good people have it. It is mostly a consequence of human evolution and surplus available daily calories. It doesn’t matter how good the food is or the individual’s standard of living.
Our current agricultural output is enough to feed everyone. My point was that the output is not sustainable and that absent continued efforts to reduce the population by birth control and distribute it by migration we are in serious trouble as a species.
The agricultural abundance (poorly distributed though it is) is a result of unsustainable phosphate mining, natural gas being used to make nitrogen fertilizer. Other non-renewable energy sources required to mechanize agriculture and transport it. And of course aquifer exhaustion and the slow poisoning of the soil with pesticides. If we solved climate change tomorrow we’re still in serious trouble on the agricultural front.
This is before we even get into problems like where do we get all the concrete we need to provide basic sanitation and housing requirements — just providing our current 46% of you don’t get it level of service is generating a ton of emissions.
Or problems like what about all unhandled waste streams piling up everywhere and generating impacts like microplastics and oceanic garbage patches.
posted by interogative mood at 3:58 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]
Every generation gets the gernsback continuum it deserves.
posted by fFish at 5:28 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]
posted by fFish at 5:28 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]
If you were alive and cognizant of reality in 1974 weren't you frightened of nuclear war? It could still happen but are you seriously so disappointed in the world that you're mad that the northern hemisphere wasn't destroyed? Damn!
posted by kingdead at 8:09 AM on February 28
posted by kingdead at 8:09 AM on February 28
Someone on this very site once commented that 1973/74 was when the future started to suck. Which is when this article was written. Which is when the energy "crisis" started. Which leads me to continue to believe that all that great post-war prosperity enjoyed by the usual entities was based on underpriced oil.
posted by morspin at 9:59 AM on February 28
posted by morspin at 9:59 AM on February 28
If you were alive and cognizant of reality in 1974 weren't you frightened of nuclear war?
No (as a child of the '80s, but my parents and sisters were alive in 1974)? Not terribly different than being fearful of global warming, but you know individual transportation is super cool.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:32 PM on February 28
No (as a child of the '80s, but my parents and sisters were alive in 1974)? Not terribly different than being fearful of global warming, but you know individual transportation is super cool.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:32 PM on February 28
Someone on this very site once commented that 1973/74 was when the future started to suck.
Which is terrible, because so many things began around that time: hip-hop, personal computing, cellular communications...
posted by grubi at 6:23 AM on March 1
Which is terrible, because so many things began around that time: hip-hop, personal computing, cellular communications...
posted by grubi at 6:23 AM on March 1
“What Happens When Demographics Change Forever?” [6:42]—PBS Terra, 29 February 2024
Our demographics look different than they did even seventy years ago. People are choosing to have fewer children, which leads to an aging population that could strain social services and deal a blow to the economy. But isn’t slower population growth supposed to be more sustainable for our environment? The answer is complicated– but it’s one we’ll have to understand to tackle our changing world.posted by ob1quixote at 8:04 AM on March 1
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posted by nofundy at 2:14 AM on February 27 [6 favorites]