Posted 4/20/2009

LIFE IN YOUR AMERICA IN 2030

From the mix of trends and countertrends buffeting our world in 2009, we predict what American life will be like 20 years from now.

Malia Obama is the President of the United States, perpetuating the Democratic majority originated by her father.

The number of Americans who do not pay income taxes has grown rapidly at the expense of those few who do.

The Cyber Wall Street Journal interviews Bill Gates, celebrated in the news as the last American likely to pay income taxes in 2031.

Due to confiscatory tax increases, America's wealthy flee to Singapore, South Korea, Dubai and the Carribean. They are surprised to find that English has become the national language of China, and every country in Asia except Pakistan.

Exxon-Mobil moves its headquarters to Singapore after receiving a tax deal "we can't refuse." Our sources indicate they received a 20-year corporate income tax holiday.

As other corporations move abroad, U.S. unemployment rises above 25 percent.

A recent labor department survey discloses that the majority of Americans now work for the government.

The Republican Party died because those who did not pay income taxes overwhelmed the few who did pay them. The "cut taxes platform" fell on deaf ears when 80 percent of the voters no longer had to pay income taxes.

Former President William Jefferson Clinton, who is little remembered, continues to decline in "Best President" rankings.

Former President George W. Bush elbows James Buchanan out of the "Worst President" slot.

Oil prices hit $1,000 a barrel as raging demand from China, India and Indonesia outstrip the world's production capacity.

American roads are filled with bicycles, motor scooters and motorcycles as people can no longer afford cars or fuel. A few horse-drawn carts have appeared on city streets.

The lights go out at night when people plug in their electric cars because the grid is insufficient to carry electricity to all those who need it. The consumer is faced with the night-time choice of watching American Idol or juicing up the car.

As global warming causes the ocean to rise, rogue waves begin to cover Miami Beach. The once-lush market for beachside cabanas collapses.

Everyone has government health insurance, including millions of illegal immigrants. But a substantial shortage of doctors and surgeons requires an average waiting time of two years. (The family room becomes the new "doctor waiting room").

Banks continue to fail as the regulators continue to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Bank of America receives its 150th bailout.

The major television networks collapse, unable to compete with the world of Twitter, instant messaging, blogging, electronic games and American Idol. By 2035, it is predicted that more people will be broadcasting on the web than watching television.

Olma Obooma, fresh from her American Idol win, is now leading in the Washington Post presidential poll.

The price of the Air Force's newest "dream fighter" reaches $450 billion. Congress debates the need to buy one or two. Supporters of the two-plane school stress the need to have one to fight China and one to fight Russia.

Russian president-for-life Vladimir Putin warns the U.S. of "dire consequences" for continuing the arms race.

Food prices now take 25 percent of the average family's income as Congress continues to mandate ethanol use and heavily subsidize its production while blocking better and cheaper ethanol produced in Brazil.

American obesity rates decline sharply and food prices increase. Fat people become sexually attractive to those suffering from food shortages. Cute, skinny girls are chasing fat men. (Fat once again becomes a symbol of economic success, resurrecting its image in the 1930s.)

A woman attempted to enroll her dog in the public school. claiming he has "member of family" status. The U.S. Appeals Court of the Ninth District (California) rules in her favor.

Restaurants now charge $20 for a glass for water as global warming and drought create huge water shortages across the country. (It's still only half the price of a glass of Chablis.)

The Great Lakes Compact (U.S. states and Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes) decide to privatize. China, suffering horrendous water shortages and disappearing water tables, immediately makes an offer for all five lakes.

Farmers prosper as food exports to China mushroom due to the disappearance of water and arable land from central and western China. More young people leave the city for the farm. They are recreating the life of their ancestors who went west for "40 acres and a mule." Now it's forty acres and a Deere. (John, that is.)

Based on stratospheric heating bills, the American construction industry goes into high gear, tearing down McMansions and replacing them with the ranches and colonials, which were torn down to build the McMansions in the first place.

The majority of graduate students at Harvard, Princeton and Stanford are Chinese using student visas. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case of discrimination against white people, William Rogers Tell VI vs. Harvard University.

Taiwan becomes the 23d province of China as the U.S. Navy pulls back to Hawaii.

The American Congress debates defaulting on the national debt. China threatens war if their $14 trillion in dollar holdings are allowed to collapse.

Based upon its vast oil discoveries and production, Brazil eclipses the United States as the most prosperous nation in the western hemisphere.

Americans, with far fewer possessions, are leading lives which are much simpler than they were in 2009. The economy in 2030 approximates that of the late 1940s.

A survey discloses that Americans are much happier in 2030 than they were in 2009. The researchers claim that there is an inverse relationship between how much you own and how happy you are. (More goods, less happy. Less goods, more happy.)

Walmart vigorously disputes the findings.

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