This morning at breakfast I asked our almost 30 year old son what he thought the world would be like when he is my age. That is, what will the world be like 35 years from now? That would be the year 2056–the year I would be 100.

The best he could come up with was, “It will be illegal to drive your own car. Self driving cars will take over.” Then he asked how impossible it would have been 35 years ago to predict where we are now. I commented that it wouldn’t have been that difficult to spot some trends and extrapolate from them into a possible future scenario.

This raises the question of prophesying the future. Much is made by some folks of the prophet Nostradamus, for example, and Biblical literalists too often try to read the books of Daniel and Revelation as if they are riddles to figure out in order to foretell the future. Meanwhile Catholics of a certain temperament love to study the Marian apparitions in the same way–as if to be a good Christian you need to be some sort of crystal ball gazer. While supernatural glimpses into the future are certainly possible, this is NOT the primary purpose of the Biblical prophets or the Marian apparitions.

Neither is it necessary to impose a supernatural explanation on what seem to be accurate predictions of the future. The predictions MAY be supernatural, but we are always supposed to look for natural explanations first. It is common sense to see that certain events in the future are probable simply by studying the current climate and circumstances. So we predict the weather based on our knowledge of weather behavior patterns, typical interactions and what we observe. Likewise, by understanding human nature, the flow of history and observing current circumstances we can make probably predictions.

Therefore, following my conversation with my son this morning here are 25 of my predictions on what the world will be like on my 100th birthday in 2056:

  1. The abortion debate will be over. Because of the plummeting birth rate governments will not only outlaw abortion. They will also restrict artificial contraceptives to being prescription only.
  2. As the birth rate falls to dangerously low levels worldwide governments will give financial incentives to those who marry and have large families. Large empty homes will be given to large families. They will be given grants of land, tax breaks and business boosts.
  3. New fertility technologies will burgeon including artificial wombs and children being conceived and gestated in labs.
  4. The falling birth rate will impact immigration policies. We will have open borders and make citizenship easy and attractive
  5. Unemployment will disappear. Instead there will be an acute labor shortage
  6. Because of the labor shortage wages will rise and poverty will decline
  7. Health care will continue to improve. We will live longer. I might make it to 2056!
  8. There will not be enough care workers to staff the crowded assisted living centers and hospitals
  9. Euthanasia will be widely accepted and encouraged if not enforced. Christians will overcome their objections
  10. Just as many Christians (including Catholics) accept the pro choice options for abortion they will also accept the pro choice option for euthanasia
  11. Immigration from the global South will continue. North America and Europe will be increasingly “brown”
  12. The rise of “brown-ness” will be the increasing influence not of African Americans, but of immigrants from Central America, India and Africa.
  13. Islam will decline as the falling birth rate hits the Middle East. Christian Africa will be the predominant religious force.
  14. There will be an African pope.
  15. The only form of Christianity that will survive will be traditional, conservative Christianity–both Protestant and Catholic
  16. The false religion of Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism will remain as the bland worldly alternative to authentic Christianity.
  17. After an African pope there will be an Asian pope who will be the head of the globalist false religion
  18. Revolutionary, leftist ideologies will surge forward and become increasingly extremist before petering out because they have run out of gas i.e. there are no more “worthy causes” to be angry about.
  19. There will be lots of self driving trucks and delivery vehicles, but people will still love their cars and like to drive.
  20. There will be no such thing as cash. All transactions will be digital.
  21. As society becomes digital and global it will seem increasingly fragile.
  22. Stress levels will increase
  23. Calming drugs to make people compliant and “happy” will become ubiquitous, accepted and often mandatory.
  24. Addiction, alcoholism and suicide will increase
  25. There will be no funerals. Just “memorial services” or “celebrations of X’s life.”