Paranoid? Optimist? What are your predictions for 2024?
5Depending on who you talk to, the world - or at least the US - will cease to exist as we know it by the end of this year due to a laundry list of causes.
A few seed ideas:
- World War
- Presidential election conflict
- Economic Collapse
- Continuing border issues
- Mass migration to El Salvador
- Mass migration to Argentina
- China overtaking Taiwan by force or peacefully
- Continued middle-east conflict
- Continued eastern-Europe conflict
- Meh starts selling candy corn again sparking mass outrage and a violent uprising
What (if anything) of importance do you think will happen this year and what will changes will we see this time next year as a result?
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COVID 2 electric boogaloo: cough harder
A.I. starts to become sentient.
Chat gtp makes election ads.
We prepare ourselves for the 1st A.I. emperor in 2026.
@simeon527 I’m kinda liking the idea of an AI emperor. Except for the fact that we’d probably farm out the programming to the same place we hire to make our viruses.
@simeon527 @tweezak Bing already thinks itself the AI emperor. So the next war will be between MS, Google, and Facebook, with great numbers of casualties on all sides. (Now that I think about it, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.)
@phendrick @simeon527 @tweezak As long as the existing AIs achieve mutual complete obliteration, I’m absolutely down for that. I have a source for popcorn by the hundred-pound sack.
R.E.M. - It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
@Kyeh I demanded they play this on NYE; always seems appropriate.
Tragically, I forgot that one should never do an Epic Knee Slide ™ in velvet.
@brainmist
Oh no! It was worth it though, right?
@Kyeh Mostly. I really liked those pants!
@brainmist
No way to repair them?
All of the above
Except the candy corn thing
That would be too much
Twelve more months and what do we get?
Another year older and deeper in debt
St. Peter don’t you call us 'cause we can’t go
We owe our souls to the Wall Street whores
@macromeh Thanks, Tennessee Macromeh.
@OldCatLady You’re welcome.
(But it’s Tokoroa Macromeh…)
Eh, I don’t see the Middle East situation getting resolved in a humane manner.
Eastern Europe’s going to get uglier unless one of the Russian generals decides that Putin’s too much of a liability.
I have some small hope that Trump will crash and burn, but it’s 100% uncertain right now. If he wins, it will take two to three years before enough backlash develops to change anything, and I’m not going to try to guess how that would play out. If he loses (again) and gets convicted (in either order), then he’ll get relegated to the GOP’s dumpster in favor of some other potentially more competent asshole. The GOP would end up in better shape for losing Trump.
There will be no mass migrations to Argentina or El Salvador, sadly. Up side: Argentina won’t need to declare war on us and intentionally lose so that we have to bail them out and arrange for our emigrants to not be a problem down there. I have little doubt that the existing enforcement structures would assist in solving that, for a suitable fee.
World War? China would probably object to that, and at this point I think they might be able to lean on the belligerents heavily enough to dampen the enthusiasm.
Economic collapse, absent a monster of an international natural disaster? Outside of the crypto area, not too likely.
Taiwan is too useful as a propaganda tool, and would be too much of a pain in the ass for China to absorb, so they’ll persist in making ugly from a distance.
@werehatrack
In general, and in substance, I agree with your preditions/comments.
However, I did have a few comments…
If he loses (again) and gets convicted (in either order), then he’ll [hopefully] get relegated to the GOP’s dumpster in favor of some other potentially more competent asshole [as unlike that might be]. The GOP [country] would end up in better shape for losing Trump.
There will be no mass migrations to Argentina or El Salvador, sadly. Up side: Argentina won’t need to declare war on us and intentionally lose so that we have to bail them out [Shades of “The Mouse That Roared”] and arrange for our emigrants to not be a problem down there. I have little doubt that the existing enforcement structures would assist in solving that, for a suitable fee.
Just sayin’
Paranoid Optimist here.
For the last few centuries, I think the general direction has been semi-positive with wild swings toward the negative
In the US politics are so toxic. That serious conversation is almost not possible on any topic.
I hope that, in spite of this a few serious people in Congress, and then the White House, and then the administration, and then the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies are
less corrupt rather than more corrupt
More intelligent, rather than less intelligent
Have a somewhat idealistic view of the world tempered by very serious realism
Have serious plans in place for crazy and not so crazy contingencies like
local or regional or larger wars
Various possible pandemics
Various possible economic crazy collapses or not so crazy collapses
Various pandemic possibilities
Various global warming possibilities
Various AI possibilities
Various complex energy possibilities
Various food and water supply emergencies
Various weather emergencies
All sorts of contingencies related to global warming
All sorts of contingencies related to insane political instability
All sorts of contingencies related to the fact that many people seem to like lies better than truth or at least better than verified fact
The increasing level of tribal behavior
The increasing level of worldwide targeting of computer and infrastructure systems by hackers
The increasing data by large corporations
The increasing data grabs by hostile foreign governments
The fact that large multinational corporations no longer really answered any law
The fact that large multinational corporations, pretty much collude nonstop, although you won’t find much of a paper trail
Don’t get decent lives out of their society when there is sufficient wealth and sufficient resources to offer that people are going to be pretty mad and quite a few of them are going to be pretty irrational
Plus, everything already mentioned elsewhere
It’s a shit show
Maybe we can muddle through it one more time
—-
I’m old enough to remember when political discourse and Washington over issues that put the nation at risk in the world were conducted in a more non-partisan manner than normal political conversations, and everybody was serious about the discussions as opposed to the modern nonsense that passes for political discourse
As a child, I never thought that, as a decades past we would get so much stupider
/giphy stupider
@f00l
I have to mostly agree, but I also think that the movie “Idiocracy” was in some senses quite prophetic, so we can only hope…
@f00l
Except for this line: “were conducted in a more non-partisan manner than normal political conversations” would parse better as:
“were conducted in a less partisan manner than “normal” political conversations”
@f00l These days it’s more like.
@PhysAssist
I dictated that response because the stoplight changed
I was not careful with my phrasing
Just like normal politicians, think it’s a crime to be careful with their thought in the modern world
Everything I do is Siri’s fault anyway
@blaineg
Nice!
@f00l Same, but not Siri…
@PhysAssist
I could say it’s the fault if whatever speech to text engine or AI assistant, I happen to be near at the time
But those general categories don’t have a simple cute name
/giphy it’s Siri
There will be an election. It will turn out badly.
@blaineg …either for the few, the many, or the one (note the possibility of an inclusive “or”, as a worst case scenario )
All of the above and, personally? I was all of 24 hours in when one of my dogs started behaving weirdly. Thought maybe a spine issue, turns out it’s a ginormous abdominal mass. We’ve been waiting three days now for a follow up to determine if there’s a next step.
Well played, 2024. Just go straight for the throat.
Knocks over king
@brainmist Oh, no. I’m sorry … I hope there’s something that can be done.
@Kyeh Me too. This just completely sneaked up: Mr Man gets more check ups than I do in my best years, and I check what I can at home. But this thing stealthed in abdominally, where it wasn’t easy to find. (External palpation was ambiguous, anal exam detected a distinct mass, radiography showed a lot of the whole picture; the whole picture is ugly.)
He’s only 8-9, and he’s survived some tough stuff, so I’m pushing for treatment if we can; I’d rather gamble away a couple months of decreasing quality to gain another five years.
But oof. Give me five fucking seconds, 2024.
@brainmist That is so sad. I hope whatever the outcome your dog’s remaining life is a reasonably comfortable and happy one. It’s always so very hard when our pets have serious medical issues.
@brainmist
God bless both of you!
@brainmist Hoping for the best … it’s so hard!
Whatever the outcome I bet the life he’s had with you has been as wonderful as any dog has ever had. 🫶
@Kidsandliz Thanks. He’s dropping weight very quickly, so he’s currently getting fed all sorts of treats to keep him up. So that part he likes…
Thanks everyone for the moral support. It’s never easy but oof. I figured I had another 5 years before I’d need to deal with this.
@Kidsandliz @kyeh @PhysAssist OMG, this has been such a rollercoaster.
My guy was getting skinnier and declining pretty fast, and yesterday the specialists’ place called; their first appt wasn’t until the 24th. I said “I don’t think he’ll make it that long”. So they put me on their cancellation list.
We’re in the middle of a major snowstorm today. And they had a cancellation. So pupper and I braved the snow, and made it in (only sliding uncontrollably down 1 hill!) and the vet says “the good news is that I think this could be an abscessed cyst”. Apparently the dog being intact made that more likely than a very advanced tumor.
And the sonogram showed it was.
So they drained it, and he’s got some meds to take, and I no longer have to think “do I need to dig a hole before the ground freezes next week”. There may still be cancer; the fluid was very dark. But I’m pretty certain this whole thing was set off by an injury from the other dog, and this could just be blood.
Even if it’s cancer, it’s not a giant, stem-to-stern mass of cancer. And it may just be prostate cysts, which are manageable.
This morning I thought my dog might not make it through the week. And if we hadn’t had a snowstorm, he might not have.
Life is weird.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @PhysAssist It took me 5 tries via 5 different routes, and 20 minutes to get back up the hill. But I’d have walked, carrying the dog, for this outcome.
@brainmist @Kyeh @PhysAssist Oh my gosh that is so incredibly lucky!!! I know you are massively relieved.
@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @PhysAssist I couldn’t believe it when he said there was good news. My guy is sleeping comfortably for the first time in a week, and I know that’s partially the sedation, but it’s been five hours. And I think he’s eating better.
Now he just needs to poop.
@brainmist @Kyeh @PhysAssist Hopefully not in the house…
@brainmist @Kidsandliz @Kyeh So glad to hear your good news!
@brainmist @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @PhysAssist
Congrats on good news
@brainmist @f00l @Kidsandliz @PhysAssist
FANTASTIC! I hope he feels much better tomorrow and keeps improving!
@Kidsandliz honestly, I’d have taken that ( but he had a dog door and is really good at telling me too). He hadn’t had a solid poop since Thursday due to the compression in his abdomen… And tonight he finally did!
So, so relieved.
Humanity will ascend to a status of wisdom, peace, and understanding. Racism, sexism, antisemitism, classism, will all die. Only gingerism will continue.
We will enter a post tax economy, and learn how to become immortal beings. Every home will have a dozen cats and fatal penguin attacks on humans will drop to zero.
We will train all earths mosquitoes to drink polluted water instead of blood. Justin Bieber will retire and vow never to sing again. Taylor Swift will completely lose her voice and only communicate through sign language.
Meh will ship me an IRK with every offering they have. Trackrs will be worth billions in the new terran economy. Earth, and all humanity will finally be in a golden age.
@OnionSoup So, a planet-killer comet strike that obliterates humanity.
@OnionSoup Hmm… you found a way to enter an alternative reality I take it?
@OnionSoup
Well, I’ve dumped a few billion dollars worth of trackers into the garbage lately
Cause I’m smart
/youtube Fredo I’m smart
Re gingerism
I’m personally for letting all the reasonable intelligent and competent gingers go on living.
The dumbass ones can stick around too so long as they get snipped early
/giphy ginger
@OnionSoup Trackrs will be the new currency. Mehtizens will immediately become bazillionnaires. We will laugh as we make Elon Musk clean the lavatories with a CyberTruck.
How? Don’t ask US, Elon, it’s YOUR job!
@f00l @OnionSoup
@OnionSoup @phendrick
She can stay.
: )
If I think the world will end in 2026, does that make me a (relative) optimist?