I like that @Blurry_Buildings fellow, what does he think?
<3 aw thanks!
This was fun to think about lol. Just shooting in the dark here, but..
I think the bird flu will jump to humans, since it has already jumped a few times to reach pigs. iirc the bird flu has a %50-55 mortality rate and evolves quickly, so it may take a while for a flu vaccine to work on it, even though we already have other flu vaccines. This would cause a little bit of a disturbance, or a pandemic lol.
I predict that the US recession that was predicted in the news in 2022 and ever since will occur (bold prediction here, I know). Although I guess to be fair there are many sources that place the risk on the low end or still say it won't happen. I think it definitely will. The US Treasury yield curve has been inverted before every major recession, and despite briefly recovering from the 2022-2024 inversion, is now inverted again. I think this will happen very soon, in the next few years, but definitely before 2035.
To add onto this, the number of americans entering the job market is set to decline with the very large birthrate declines that started in 2008 (people born in 2008 turn 18 next year). This lack of people entering the workforce could be made up for with immigration, however many skilled immigrants immigrate to the US when they are young and then after saving enough of their earnings, return to their home countries where they can take advantage of the currency exchange rates between the USD and their nation of origin's currency to live a nicer life. (not to criticize, I think almost everyone here would choose to do the same, I know I would want to settlle down as I got older somewhere where I could live a significantly better life if I wasn't planning on shooting myself) This means that many of the young highly skilled individuals the US takes from developing nations usually end up returning mid-late career and spending their savings in their home nations, instead of in the US.
Refugees on the other hand are usually here to stay, spend all of their money in the US, and raise children here, which in the long term could help ease the situation, unfortunately, what defines a refugee has become a political debate. People from Venezuela who can not afford to feed themselves or their familes and could face death by starvation are sometimes seen as economic migrants while people from authoritarian regimes who are not in immediate danger and with stable incomes are usually given the benefit of the doubt and considered full refugees. Both are to some extent in danger, but the one facing imminent starvation is usually looked down on more. I don't expect this to change.
Starting anytime from now to 2030 (corresponding with the massive birthrate declines of 2008), with less money being spent in the American economy due to less American born people existing and many of the skilled immigrants who replace them settling down elsewhere, the American economy will begin to decline. America will also not accept enough new Americans who plan to stay in the form of refugees to make up for the birthrate decreases. If we continue to limit refugee intakes, it could also contribute to a situation where there is a large wealth gap between a pseudo upper class of skilled, talented, and highly educated but transient immigrants, and ordinary Americans, who will further grow to resent immigration.
In terms of the government's fiscal solvency, social security (again iirc) is scheduled to run out of funding around 2030. Many millenials and gen z already do not expect to receive any social secuirty due to the way the economy is heading, but will still be the groups who contribute the most to it in the coming three decades. As this continues, the political will to maintain social security will falter, as democrats begin to back an alternative needs-based welfare approach specifically for individuals without sufficient retirement savings, and republicans begin to advocate for removing social security all together to reduce government spending.
At the very least I think it will become a real debate topic between republicans attempting to reduce government spending and democrats attempting to save social security.
Another thing we may see begin by 2030-2035 is mass taxation of wealthy individuals with no increase in government services, just to pay off some of the debt that the US owes. While there are some nations that have managed to take on heavy amounts of debt, I believe the political intolerance for using government funds to pay what could be upwards of 25% of discretionary spending on interest will make mass taxation a reality. Selling US citizenship to wealthy individuals directly (instead of through investment like before) is also likely to stay.
I think the US will leave NATO sometime in the next 50 years, and I predict JD Vance becoming the president at some point in the future, barring a major accident or scandal. As president JD Vance will be more isolationist, socially conservative, and surprisingly borderline economically liberal. I am less confident but I believe (despite his low polling numbers right now) Pete Buttigeg will also become president, potentially in 2028, but if not then eventually, again barring a major accident or scandal.
50-75 years from now I believe that body modification will become normalized. Like how changing your hair color is beginning to be seen the same way as changing your clothes in some places, how both plastic and reconstructive surgeries become more and more common, and how tatoos in the workplace have been normalized for 40 years, this process will continue. In the far future, this greater acceptance may tangentally help transgender people become fully societially accepted, and there may be a time when the word transgender itself becomes obsolete, as people will be able to easily change all physical aspects of themselves we see as immutable today. People will be capable of fully defining themselves mentally and physically.
People like me who are chronically in pain wouldn't exist either. As 3D printed organs or organs grown from stem cells continue to evolve, receiving a replacement organ or limb will become much easier as well. People will replace their organs or limbs willingly, even just for a 'worn out' leg or arm. The connectome, mapping the connections between every nueron in the brain, will be complete by 2075, and simulated human brains will become a reality.
I also predict that I'll be dead by 2030, if everything goes well. The state I'm in is really bad with getting firearms if you have a history of psychiatric hospitalization but haven't been declared mentally defective (like upwards of 2 years waiting for approval) but when I move out of state I'll be able to change my residency in 30 days and then use my new state's drivers license to buy a shotgun. (edit) now that I think about it, I also predict walmart will stop selling shotguns in-store in the near future lol, which is a little bit of a bummer because it would've been nice to lump it in with groceries, y'know? I'd have to check again but I think they stopped selling them instore near me, and I think this might become a trend..
