Diego Ángeles Sistac
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Mexico City, Mexico.
There is an entire range of movies and books trying to predict what will be of our future not just eleven years from now, but hundreds and even thousands. However, movies and books have always got it wrong, not because our imagination of “what will be” surpasses our possibilities (assumption that is proven wrong when looking in retrospective) but because these focus on the binary choices of men. One will always notice in these entertaining prophecies, that everything is either black or white, either good or evil. The future created by those in the science fiction industry will never propose a world as gray as we know it, why would they? It is boring.
I might just now conclude that 2021 will be boring, but that, as well, would not be very appealing. Having ascertained the main problem of those who imagine the most about the future, I will try to overcome their “artistically committed errors” and find a prediction by myself of what the year 2021 has in store for us.
The year 2021 will not be a tide turning point in history, it will simply be a year caught between smooth changes towards a larger and unintended purpose, as most of things in this life are. I may be wrong, it is also possible to think that the year 2021 will be a new 1789, a year caught in revolutions and extraordinary change. Nevertheless, if I had to place a bet I would most probably take the first option rather than the last. I might be branded as a pessimist or simply cynical, however, the logic that rules my predictions compels me to do so. To tie a specific event such as a “grand revolution” to a precise date would require not only a notion of a universally planned agenda but also that humanity, indeed, has complete control over its own fate and nothing is left to chance.
I, thus, elucidate a vaguer belief of what will happen in the years to come. As I said before, it is most probable that the year 2021 will be, solely, one of many small waves of human ideas through history. Nonetheless, if we agree that nothing transcendental might occur on that year we must also point out that, like in every other year, history will be directed towards a different point, if only by a few inches.
I do believe that the future, uninteresting as it may be, does aim to a brighter canvas, a lighter shade of gray. This approach is not a consequence of a new found optimism between the last written lines, but because humanity has grown far more conscious of itself and its place in the universe.
It has always been said (and no less truthfully), in history classes, that before science was “approved” by the political powers of the theological regimes, the center of the universe was focused on God. Later on, as humanity entertained the notion of control over nature, that theocentric understanding was replaced by a much more fragile one, a system were humans found themselves alone, lacking whatever purpose these had fantasized about. More than three hundred years have passed since these were breaking news. I think it is safe to say that we have a new understanding of our place in the universe, we may be alone (alone as in: abandoned by God). But we are not alone amongst ourselves. It has taken humanity two world wars and countless genocides to even conceive the notion that every human being, living or dead, has rights (whatever these may be). This conception stems from a series of understandings between most countries in the world.
If the years between the 18th and 20th century were marked by the power of political oligarchies, either in democracies or dictatorships, we might just be able to think that, perhaps, the 21st century has taken a turn, in terms of political power, towards hearing the voice of a larger amount of people. I must reemphasize my latter point, while this 21st century may have brought more people towards the different centers of power, not every voice will be heard. The prerogative of every government and every citizen should be to solve this problem, for if one lesson is to be learned throughout history is that bonds, contracts and treaties are always stronger if accorded by a larger community.
Humanity, in the year 2021, will be forced to consider compelling proposals that aim towards the end of wars, the end of nationalistic regimes and, as well, the creation of greater regional and international arenas. Broadly speaking, the year 2021 will try to break the human created frontiers. These walls that were once meant for protection now serve, ironically, as a mean of violence and, therefore, must be broken down. Every country shall lose its flag and surrender to a common vision, a human vision.
The introduction of hundreds of different means of communication, commercial treaties and international arenas has already initiated this aperture process. One must only look at the European Union or the economic treaties in South East Asia to affirm that humanity is growing tired of conflict.
Nowadays, the means of communication have opened up a view of the world never before achieved. In these days a child can understand a world beyond the simple maps that depict it; he can learn that humans inhabit it and that different points of view do exist. The internet has allowed us to analyze conflicts beyond political interests and economic calculations. It is now possible and easy to share stories with war stricken victims. The world is getting smaller in size and bigger in knowledge, countries that would have rested anonymous, now play a central role in international politics, examples of this can be found in Uganda or Haiti, likewise, Iraq’s war was condemned and fought against by a very large sum of people all around the world.
However, not everything in my description of the 21st century is peaches and roses. We still have wars and, also, cruel dictators and genocides, we still have interest groups that push for economic gain at the cost of human lives. Moreover, the 21st century is clouded with thoughts of a meaningless existence and a lack of human purpose. But as a child departs its mother’s side at some point, humanity must quit nationalism and all state like frontiers to find meaning through existence itself, through human bonds.
Society has been given the microphone at this point in history, and as we continue marching on for the next eleven years, we can only hope that this same path of greater liberties is maintained. If at first I could be branded as pessimist it is now probable that I will be renowned for being naive, nonetheless, I will recall one of my first and already emphasized statements, while this 21st century may have brought more people towards the control of power, sadly, not every voice will be heard.
The years between now and the year 2021 will determine the spin of the rudder that guides the human ship, it may take us another hundred years to get where we want, but as long as the direction is maintained we can be sure to arrive to a safe port.
I have tried not to predict neither a world sunk in chaos or a utopian paradise, not because I do not desire the latter and fear the first, but because to do so would be to assume that the variables that guide human history will change drastically and, for good or bad, few times has history changed so thoroughly.
Eleven years from now policies might continue to empower people and to create greater understandings between citizens and nations, however, these predictions are not based on a belief where things are a result of spontaneous creation, but rather a consequence of action and hence, we must act. The year 2021 will be boring, and let us hope so, for the things that call the most attention of humanity are conflicts and despair.