Found something remarkable (and also quite sad).
In 1997, Wired published "The Long Boom", a hyper-optimistic article about how we'd achieve Utopia by 2020.
The authors included notes on some "scenario spoilers"—negative events that might send is in a worse direction.
...and those spoilers turned out to be almost spookily accurate.
2: They actually haven’t been a bust, but the economic boom from it has all gone to the wealthy.
3: Russia was already a kleptocracy run by mafia-types and has always been xenophobic.
4: Depends on your definition of Eastern Europe, but many joined in 2004, with the latest in 2013 being Croatia. Yes, Brexit, but the EU is carrying on fine without it.
6: Crime is still largely down in the US at least, and terrorism is no worse than in 97.
@ThisWeekInThe90s
7: Cancer has not overwhelmed our health system. (And “ill-prepared” is a very USian POV.)
8: Hasn’t happened, even with continued unrest in the Middle East. Alternate energy sources continue to grow.
9: Covid was bad, but only 1/10 as bad as that estimate.
10: Yes there is pushback, especially in the US and UK, but not to the extent that progress has stopped.
Which means 1 right, and it took 24-25 years to really heat up.
This Week In The 90s
Queen of Anxiety
FeralRobots
Steve Popovich