What does the Future Hold? Utopia or Dystopia? Good or Bad?

[Major Carrales]

Most of us are well read and occasionally we encounter authors that present us with Utopias, as well as its nemesis, the DYSTOPIA.

The more common Utopias are given to us by social engineers like H.G. Wells ("The Shape of Things to Come") These are the sorts of Futuramas laced in ART DECCO landscapes in the same tone of the EMERALD city in the 1938 Wizard of OZ!

The more popular dystopias are given to us by Orwell (1984) and Huxley (Brave New World)...with Ray Bradbury giving us the World of Guy Montag in Farhenheit 451 where books are illegal and burned or those half dustopias by default like Vonnegut's post Army of Mars Invasion in the Sirens of Titan.

So, with all that "book mumbo jumbo" aside, what will the future be like?

Or, tackle the probelm in retrospect...what would our world be to the thinking person of say 1808 or even 1898 or, dare we, 1948.

Try to be objective. I'll post my take after a few takers as not to contaminate the results.

[JayT]

I think that when you put six and a half billion people ontop of an increasingly fragile social-enviromental struture...........you get what you have coming.

[Climbnsink]

I think central planning by either side is going to be wrong.   100 years ago NYC biggest problem was horses@@@- they had no idea how that was going to be solved. And so it is with every other problem.  Stop planning stop regulating and let the free market and peoples ingenuity solve problems.