A different kind of futurism: pop conservatism, etc

by phil on Wednesday Mar 4, 2009 10:35 AM
a new kind of futurism

What will the future be like 10 years from now? If you're Microsoft, you think it will look like Minority Report.

Here's a portion of my take on "the future will be boring" theme. It focuses on where social trends may end up in 2019:

The Mormon population in the United States will increase from 5 Million to 8 Million. A knock-off "purpose-driven" Mormon-lite movement will form and eventually take the country by storm. Abstinence education will have become more popular, not less (although still not work). Now the vast majority of parents will have at least tried drugs. Marijuana will become legal but will also become increasingly uncool. Kids, being the willful contrarians that they are, will become more straight edge and abstain from drugs. They will still be slackers, but instead of flaunting their "could-give-a-fuck" attitude, they'll be obsessed with authenticity. They will be reactionaries to what they perceive as an over-saturation of "reality" TV (now the majority of television programming) and fake YouTubes.

There will be more strange admixtures of culture and conservatism. If you thought Christian Rock was annoying, wait till Christian Rap becomes the norm at mega no-drug festivals, where tattoos, black clothing, piercings, and tattoos are the norm, but it's "not cool man" if you toke. Cigarette smoking will go the way of California, and become both more unhip and banned.

As urban density continues its perpetual rise, so will the number of blue states. The number of states legalizing gay marriage will be maybe 10-15. Polygamists will start asking to come out of the closet and be beating down the door of the Supreme Court (thanks in no small part to the hit Big Love, by then a classic with 7 seasons on Blu-ray).