2013-2023

[LoveLife&Laughter]

The streets are so much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks began closing down years ago. Some are already being subdivided and sold to the highest bidder. Reports on bridges crumbling or even collapsing are commonplace. The air in city after city hangs brown and heavy (and rates of childhood asthma and other lung diseases have shot up), because funding that would allow the enforcement of clean air standards by the Environmental Protection Agency is a distant memory. Public education has been cut to the bone, making good schools a luxury and, according to the Department of Education, two of every five students won’t graduate from high school.

It’s 2023 -- and this is America 10 years after the first across-the-board federal budget cuts known as sequestration went into effect.  They went on for a decade, making no exception for effective programs vital to America’s economic health that were already underfunded, like job training and infrastructure repairs.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

[P.A.]

Some people are determined to make The United States a third world country. If the people don't wake up this could come true.

[exedir]

The problem with crystal balls, is that, they are just crystal balls.  It is hard to make predictions without making assumptions, which, may or may not be valid. and yes, there is is a 100% probability of death and taxes.

So, as to 2023 will be like, well, they are guesses, and as to how educated, always subject to interpretation.  

Things we can assume we know is that entitlements will grow as to expense based on nothing else than size and volume of demand by those that will be eligible at that time.  Of course, that calculation can be changed if a change is made to decrease the level of expense by change eligibility and benefits.

As to rest, certainly these things could happen, but overall, probably won't happen.  Example is the question of air quality, if, the use of coal and oil is decreased and emissions change say, by the use of natural gas particularly in generation of power in lieu of other fossil fuels.  In this case, the question is the transportation capacity to provide for supplies of natural gas from production fields to users.  

Education is also subject to a change in that learning does not necessarily have to happen in organized classrooms, amounts spent on education do not mean results, which has to be addressed.

As to national lands, probably not, they can be exploited without ownership as they have been in past.  

Infrastructure is serious and seriously in decline in part by lack of interest until there is a crisis or problem with obtaining services and access to transportation.  It has always been this way where once built, few consider the importance of maintenance and replacement.  The question is something like high price, high operation cost rail an alternative that should be considered or such funding put in to current and expanded infrastructure of highways and current rail systems.

We will always be challenged by the future, a future only a portion of us will experience and therefore, maybe hard to get excited about.  

Now, about the one-way trip to Mars.....