My passion for the future had started when I was in elementary school, and I have always been a dreamer since then. When I started writing a sci-fi book, I spent a significant amount of time evaluating and understanding the new technologies and trends that will change the world in the next 50 years.

I did it because the world is changing much faster than before, and it will be a totally different world in the next 30 years. I wanted to prepare myself and my children to harmonize with the megatrends and adapt the new world. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of the ongoing massive change.

Therefore, I wrote many stories in Medium about these trends following the ancient Sumerian anonym — why do you learn if you are not teaching? Hence, I am sharing because I cannot live without sharing with my sisters and brothers in the world.

After many stories about positive trends, let`s today try to take a look at the dark side of a possible new world without falling into the trap of creating a dystopia.

i- POWER

Power has always been the dark side of us. Most humans die for power. Many leaders fought for throughout history and did not hesitate to rule by force and become a tyrant. We are still no better than our ancestors, who lived 4,000 years ago.

Despite our advanced technology, complex philosophy, and religious doctrines, seductive art, and literature, we are still fighting for the same things with each other and try to win alone, not together. Hence, the past ages’ dangers are still relevant unless we make our quantum leap in consciousness.

1. REIGN OF ELITES

The last several Davos Summit Reports showed very clearly that only 62 people own 50% of the global wealth. Look at the new rising stars in the list of the world`s richest people and see how much money they make.

The money they are making is more than a country can generate and does not help the poor, ill, underprivileged people, and societies. Look at how fast a limited number of corporations are growing despite regulations on monopolies and trusts.

This trend can soon end up with elites’ reign, just like the all-seeing eye symbol on the American dollar. Perhaps, the conspiracy theories on Illuminati or 13 big families dominating the world have already been true since the early 1800s. A recent series, Altered Carbon, depicts well a future world dominated by power elites.

2. BIGGER GAP BETWEEN THE DEVELOPED AND UNDER-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

As fewer people own the global wealth, the gap between the richest and poorest and most developed and least developed countries is also widening. This will be harsh, but the colonization era still has not ended. The colonies of the past were dominated by armed forces and trade routes.

In the modern world, since WWII, countries do not usually invade each other. Instead, the technologically and economically strong strictly adhere to Sun Tzu`s advice on strategy and economically invade, culturally exploit, and politically manipulate the poor and underdeveloped in order to control the limited global resources and critical trade routes.

Nothing has changed indeed for the last 4,000 years in how we use power, as I explained deeper in my book, Garden of Eden.

The gap between the rich and the poor, strong and weak creates more poverty and disables access to health and education in poor countries. The bigger the inequality, the less safe the world becomes.

3. 24/7 CONTROL

AI has transformed social media into a reconnaissance system. Many intelligence agencies have more people analyzing the big data now because there has never been such plenty of data since the rise of the internet and AI-based technologies. New algorithms know your wife better than you after 10 clicks on the internet.

Remember the Cambridge Analytica case. This new technology not only watches your every move but gathers enough data to predict your next moves and even to manipulate your decisions, even in democratic elections. Imagine it working in synch with battle drones, robot-warriors, and robocops, especially if controlled by dark and sinister minds who would do anything to control people.

4. THE WORLD WAR III

The ones living in modern and civilized countries mostly do not understand and empathize with people in poor and underdeveloped countries.

It is easy to throw excess food into the garbage or buy 5 more shoes besides the existing 20 when you know you can go and buy anything as long as you have the money.

What if you would not know what you`d eat the next day? What if you were afraid of the ideological fundamentalist party winning the democratic elections and threatening your lifestyle? How about living with 145% inflation each day? What about living in a war zone and trying to earn your life, make love, raise good and righteous children? Many people do not understand the meaning of suffering until they suffer.

Bullets 1, 2, and 3 above, plus trade wars, battles on petrol, water, several underground resources, the conflict between religions, de-globalization; they all increase the risk of wars and even WWIII. Maybe, as some people say, WWIII has already started and fought behind the scenes as economic wars, trade fights, political domination, cultural exploitation, etc.

5. LESS GLOBALIZATION DUE TO RISING NATIONALISM

The 2nd decade of the 21st century has witnessed both the rise of globalization and its fall. Industry 4.0 is nothing but an effort of industrialized counties, who had lost manufacturing to fast east, to bring manufacturing back to their own backyard.

Automation is cheaper than ever and enables producing at lower rates that can compete with low-cost manufacturing bases in Asia, Eastern Europe, North Africa, and Latin America. One of the worst and less-spoken downsides of the pandemic is its impact on the rise of nationalism.

The world turning into a global village is now becoming a place where each nation withdraws back to its garden, keeping a social distance from others.

ii- WORK

7. BIG MASSES OF PEOPLE WITHOUT SKILLS TO COPE WITH THE NEW WORLD

The statistics I shared in my story about AI, pints out to the need for more educated people with cross-functional skills. While it is quite hard to graduate from university in many parts of the world, a double or triple major is a big challenge.

Besides, some new hybrid functions are still not taught in the schools and require some more time. The ones who cannot cope with the change and the mega-trends have the risk of falling behind the competition and depend on government aids, universal income, etc.

8. DOMINATION OF CORPORATIONS

Look at the rise of corporations and how much money they make each year plus their increasing power on global economics and even politics. A corporation is like the guilds, colleges, masons of the old times who were free to travel and make a living in everywhere around the world because of their unique skills.

Similarly, corporations can travel, invest, hire, and operate in many countries, unlike people. Thus, the country where they started can influence and manipulate other countries economically, culturally, and politically behind the scenes.

That structure has brought a totally new matrix of running businesses and governments. The annual turnover of many top corporations in the world is more than a mid-sized country`s GDP. As the corporations get bigger and expand their global footprints, we will see dark hands using them to manipulate others.

9. MERITOCRACY

Setting goals and hitting them is great. Hiring the top talent, charming and motivating them with monetary and non-monetary incentives, and recognizing them seems to be a good method to get things done.

However, this system makes people more individualistic, separating them from their family and personal lives, encouraging competition instead of collaboration, urging winning alone but not together, rising materialism at the cost of spiritual deterioration.

That is an economic slavery model in which people do not think out of the box to understand what they really want in their one, short life. Meritocracy is making humans robots with souls. It is dehumanizing people. I read comments in LinkedIn from CEOs and COOs of some companies ridiculing and scorning the noble efforts of those trying to help each other, empathizing with the suffering ones, and working with the eyes of appreciation. When did we become so sold, brutal, apathetic to each other? How did money enslave their poor souls?

iii- RELIGION

10. RISE OF ATHEISM, NIHILISM, AND AGNOTICISM

The more suffering in the world, the more people question the meaning of life and the use of religions. In all three heavenly religions, the corruption and apathy to each other are on the rise. Plus, the rise of science has fostered materialistic thinking, and people forgot their essence and divine potential. This trend may continue triggering more people to become deists.

iv- PEOPLE

11. MACHINE HUMANS OR EXAGGERATED TRANSHUMANISM

Transhumanism will surely help us prolong our lives, improve our immune system, enhance our physical and mental capabilities. Still, we can become Robo-Sapiens at the end.

12. PRE-DESIGNED CHILDREN (CRISP TECHNOLOGY)

This new technology promises to end genetic problems. How nice? That would be wonderful, but humans will surely use this to their advantage to create new types of humans species.

Perhaps, we will first conquer new planets and moons where humans cannot travel without special equipment. Once these genetically-modified humans can live in places where ordinary people cannot survive, they may use this technology to rule others.

Who can say that dark minds and hands will not create the mythological humanoids with this type or more advanced technologies, most probably to increase their power? The first military uses of such technologies to develop super-soldiers can result in strange experiments.

13. INDIVIDUALIZATION

There were not many computer games when I was a child, and even this limited pool was good enough to keep us from playing in the streets, climbing the trees, etc. Augmented reality, AI, robotics, electronics opened up a totally new path before us.

The modern children talk to each other with tablet computers and spend more time on the internet than playgrounds. Virtual reality has already been dominating our lives. Advanced technologies powered with augmented reality will make people spend more time in such games to relieve their real-life stress and to do the things they cannot do in life.

People who could not realize their material dreams will easily experience them in virtual heavens and more in the near future. Guess what happens next? They will spend a significant amount of time on these virtual heavens that will alleviate their existential suffering.

v- ENVIRONMENT

14. GLOBAL HEATING EXCEEDING 3 CENTIGRADE LIMIT

Since the global temperatures were recorded 140 years ago, the world`s average temperature has been increasing more than 1.2 Celcius centigrade. It is expected by 2030 to reach 1.5 to 2 degrees centigrade. Anything more than 2 centigrade poses a great threat to the world and civilization. +3 centigrade means major risk, and Mother Earth will go wild, changing our lives drastically.

15. UNFAIR DISTRIBUTION AND EXPLOITATION OF GLOBAL RESOURCES

I have given enough examples above to convey my message that only a limited number of people and countries control and use the world’s limited resources. The world has enough resources for everyone if we use and share them fairly.

There is enough money for everyone to live a good life and to realize their dreams if we play this global game fairly. The increasing population that is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 will endanger the world and our fragile civilization unless we find a way to establish equality globally.

No one knows the future; we can only follow the signs and make predictions. We have a choice to make because we have free will. The universe depends on the Principle of Polarity; that is, the never-ending dance of the opposites keeps the universe and life running.

Therefore, we have to choose between good and evil, right and wrong. Our very choices will shape the future that we want to live in with our children. So, we better use our free will to make the right choices to create a better world in which goodness, righteousness, kindness, fairness, equality, diversity, peace, freedom, and global fraternity prevail.

With love,

Kenan

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