So I attended the Hawaii 2050 conference this past weekend. There is a lot to think about but I have very limited time to say much about the conference.
One of the things they did was to create four alternative futures. The 500 attendees were then divided up into four groups to discuss the alternative they were assigned. Mine envisioned:
The end of cheap and abundant energy, sea-level rise, global economic collapse, and pandemics has resulted in local self-sufficiency--based on strictly-enforced indigenous-based and traditional values, and the "small is beautiful" ideas of E. F. Schumacher.
The scenario covers a full page with very small type but certain logical consequences flow from alternate future. First among these is the collapse of governance, transportation, and higher education. This would be a very dark future, indeed.
Part of all scenarios was a skit in which a debate for governor was run. There were two parties but you had to be a member of a business to be part of the party and to vote. One party was headed by someone from Japan who ran a keiretsu-like high tech virtual reality game corporation and the other by something called "Aloha Nuclear and Water."
I thought the second party's names was hilarious and include a scan of a bumper sticker (one wonders if there would be cars in this future) they handed out below.
If I have time, I'll say more some other day but I gotta' go.
Aloha!
