What Will Life on Earth Be Like in 2111?

An old friend told me the other day that his 25-year-old son had asked him what he thought life on Earth would be like in 100 years. Quite a good question, I think. But are there any answers that don’t scare the pants off you? With extremist governments with nuclear weapons, another century of environmental destruction, the steady creep of corruption, the world population growing exponentially – and the US government deficit doing the same – could this possibly have a happy ending?

I’m not optimistic, but I haven’t given up, either.  As I told him, “That’s why I write. When people stop caring … as soon as people no longer speak and write about this stuff, and involve themselves in the issues, then we truly are done.” (I actually didn’t say “done.” I chose a different, more expressive term from our modern vernacular.)