Some professor dude at UL has come up with predictions of what life might be like in 2050. Now I’m all for educated guesses and what-not, but I’m not too sure that Dr Kinsella is on the right track.
First off, 2050 isn’t that far away, it’s not very futuristic, and the chances are a few of us will still be about, so we might be getting blamed for these guesses (if they turn out to be incorrect ).
So the story goes, according to this economics guy, we won’t have any more oil. I’m OK with that, I’ll probably be retired by then and not able to afford heating anyway. Of course the whole climate change issue will be a bit more serious, and we’ll probably have nuclear power seeing as all the oil will be gone.
Dr Kinsella also believes that the population will grow (there’s a surprise ) and there will be more information available to people. Well that’s fair enough, and most probably accurate. But I don’t think he’s digging deep enough.
Let’s take a quick look at what we were promised back in the day, as in before a lot of us were born. Those crazy Americans were great at guessing we’d all have robot housemaids, and flying cars. Can someone tell me where my jet pack is? Not forgetting my dinner in pill form, holidays on Mars, and floating cities in the sky? This was supposed to be the vision of the future!
But not to worry. OK so they got it wrong, they went a bit too far with the exaggeration, but that’s fine, it happens. And it’s actually a fun game.
By being a bit more realistic about what’s going on in the world around us you can make some pretty easy guesses as to what the future might hold.
Westmeath footballers make it to the final of something.
Ciaran Mullooly reports on some good news in the Midlands.
The rain might hold off for a week.
Damien Rice / Snow Patrol release a song that’s not moany or depressing.
The Government decide that we all deserve to take as much time off during the summer as they do.
Deputy James Bannon agrees with something Fianna Fail does or says.
How about this in the future petrol and diesel will cost under €1 a litre, ESB will cut their prices, and the Government will stop putting VAT on essentials like shoes, make-up, and pretty things.
Oh and the PRSI people will decide that after you have paid X amount of PRSI contributions you get to take a few weeks off and they’ll give you back some of your money.
This could be a good future.
Sure, some of the above scenarios are slightly unrealistic, but come on, jet packs? Food in pill form? Trips to Mars?
Ha!
I’m happy with my predictions. I might not be a lecturer in economics, but how many of us are? Anyway you don’t need to be an economics lecturer to know that Westmeath won’t be bringing home Sam anytime soon!
