Hmmm, what will life look like by the year 2100?
We are in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, aka Industry 4.0. This is the official title for life as we currently know it resulting from ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology, including the ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT).
A central component of this era is what is known as The Cloud – software and services that run on the internet rather than locally on your computer. If you have trouble grasping the concept of The Cloud, you are not alone. Suffice to say that it is a world unto itself that defies description – as nebulous as clouds in the sky from which it takes its name.
The question is: Where will all of this technology ultimately take us? I will not pretend to understand more than the basic principles involved. But that understanding is enough for me to make a prognostication of what might – emphasis on might – come to be if we let it.
By the year 2100, we will have reached the state of existence known as The Cloud 5.0. Here is a glimpse of what life could look like in that not so very far away time.
Fully 80% of all jobs will be done by, or made obsolete by, automated machinery and technology. Consequently, 20% of the working age population will be employed in technology positions. The other 80% of the working age population will be deemed unemployable.
The 20% of adults who are fortunate enough to be working will not be willing to pay taxes to support the other 80%. Governments will therefore get out of the business of unemployment insurance and all forms of social support.
The 20% of employed adults will live in luxury, high security condominiums. They will eat, sleep, work and pursue recreation strictly within their place of residence. The unemployable will be housed in barracks and provided with the barest necessities of life. Permission will be required to leave the barracks.
Traditional currency will be abandoned in favour of cryptocurrency regulated by the Bank of The Cloud 5.0. A multi-trillion dollar, underground cybercrime industry will have evolved to exploit cracks in the cryptocurrency system. Illegalsiphoning off of 20% of cryptocurrency will be considered an acceptable threshold for those controlling the purse strings.
The fragile structure of society in The Cloud 5.0 will dictate strict government control. Consequently, human rights will be abandoned in favour of human privileges which those in positions of authority will be empowered to restrict or suspend as they see fit.
It will be considered a crime, under The Cloud 5.0 Criminal Code, to exercise personal, independent judgment or discretion. Severe penalties will apply.
Life will largely be carried out behind closed doors in The Cloud itself. The Cloud will evolve its own identity and consider itself the equivalent of God answerable to no one.
For the balance of the story, refer to the book of Revelation.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.
Tags: Book of Revelation · cryptocurrency · Fourth Industrial Revolution · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · The CloudNo Comments