NPR’s Morning Edition recently predicted our future world in an audiocast called “Analysts: By 2025, U.S. Won’t Be Top World Power.” (4min 20 seconds podcast)
What the analysts “predict” is really the continuation of the trends that are already underway. I wasn’t really surprised by the predictions. If any of you have ready Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat, the global stage is well set for countries like China and India to continue their rise in power. BTW – Thomas Friedman has a new book out call Hot, Flat, and Crowded which looks great. Do you recommend? Maybe it will be in my Christmas stocking?
What the audiocast got me thinking about was the world stage when my parents were taking care of me and my sisters at ages six and under, the same ages as my kids. The world was the late 1970’s. The economy sucked. The political scene was just about as unstable as it is today. In fact, this would have been just a few years after the oil crisis of 1973. Hmmm…maybe history repeats itself in very familiar ways!
What my parents would not have predicted is the following:
- Failure of innovation: Automotive fleets still get low 20’s for gas mileage. 30 years of essentially the same product rolling off the line (save some great safety enhancements)
- Success of innovation: Medical advancements, computers, Internet, email, blogs, eCommerce. My mom directed me to this NPR audiocast!
What will I predict for my kids who will be just graduating or in college in 2025?
- You will need to continually educate yourself. Formal or informal, the world will require constant adjustment. I see this already.
- You will interact with more cultures, people and ideas than any generation before you. Tolerance and an open mind will be required to succeed in interpersonal relationships because people and ideas will continue to bounce around the world at light speed.
- You will need to make due with less. You will be competing with billions of other people around the world for resources (education, technology, food, water, energy) at levels never seen before. The current consumption patterns of the United States will be changed forever because we are on an unsustainable trajectory.
What do you predict for your kids in 2025?
2 Comments
January 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm
[...] Multi-modal knowledge workers are the sign of the times and I guess the interactions with family are going to get just as creative. Flat world here I come! [...]
January 16, 2009 at 11:12 pm
[...] Multi-mode knowledge workers are the sign of the times and I guess the interactions with family are going to get just as creative. Why rely on just the phone when so many other channels are available? Flat world here I come! [...]