On a sunny spring morning, I wake up in my bed, my completely self-sufficient house powered by solar and wind power. My neighborhood in Madrid is green and leafy, with vertical gardens and urban orchards on every corner. Mobility is fast and sustainable thanks to an extensive network of high-speed electric trains connecting all European cities. I take breakfast made with ingredients from a local cooperative and I go on my way to my leisure garden by electric bicycle, because by that date I will be retired collecting my long-awaited and deserved retirement pension. On the way, I pass through a park full of biodiversity, where children of different origins play together. Europe has reached an impressive level of inclusion and international cooperation, resolving conflicts through dialogue and solidarity. Education and access to technology have been the pillars that allowed overcoming social and economic challenges. In the afternoon I go to a neighborhood association that participates in projects that promote gender equality and sustainable development. Teleworking and flexible working hours have improved the quality of life, allowing a perfect balance between work and leisure. As night falls, I enjoy a dinner in the company of friends, remembering how much Europe has changed and dreaming of an even brighter future.

In the future I do not want there to be wars, nor a few rich and many poor, wealth should be better distributed. Hopefully we will live more years with better health and we can find effective cures for cancer. I would love to see everything green, with cleaner air and a less polluted planet where the bike was used for short trips.

The year was 2025. We had come out of a pandemic and were in a recession with high interest rates. In the United States, a power-crazed president had just been installed. In Russia, a power-mad dictator waged a war to increase his power. In the Middle East, they fought hard. Violence and poverty dominated everyday life in many places. It was a gloomy life for a lot of people. It just couldn't go on like this. Humanity would perish if it did. This extreme situation eventually brought people together in protests. The protests were peaceful, but so large that they gradually began to gain ground. Ordinary people fought long and tirelessly, and in the end evil could no longer claim its place. Friendly and caring leaders replaced tyrants. Mental illness decreased and people began to feel hope for the future again. No wars raged, no poverty remained. Everyone could live happy and safe lives.

Somewhere in Europe, not knowing how, though that doesn't matter, there was a spark that lit the torch of freedom. The answer to more than 2000 years of oppression of peoples. With that torch we burn the old system, its greed and its corruption, and on its ashes we erect a new Europe that is an example to the world. That makes us truly a synonym for tolerance, freedom, equality, and progress. A participatory democracy where European citizens decide our future without intermediaries. Twenty years where we have advanced more than in the previous hundred because society no longer has supporters of the status quo, and therefore neither anchors that weigh us down. Politics and politics are different, there is no longer the left or the right, populisms or nationalisms that once caused two world wars are now history. There are no clashes between the blue and red flags that on the other hand already made much that they had lost their color. Each issue is voted on independently through digital channels by all those citizens who wish to participate. What is not so is decided by scientists and experts. The prayers of professional politicians have been reduced to a minimum and replaced by people who from home and through their vote decide what should be the way forward. Without corrupt leaders, international conflicts have ended, there are no longer wars or poverty because resources are shared equally. It has been decided to establish a maximum limit to the wealth that can be treasured by a single individual. The right to housing is no longer just a forgotten clause in the Constitution but a reality, so that anyone who is not able to access one by his own means has in the act of an official protective housing concession until he can acquire one. There are no longer minimum pensions and higher pensions, we are all entitled to the same type of benefit. Freedom of expression and free access to culture are embodied and strengthened in a networkless internet. Copyright has been limited to a maximum of 12 years from which any literary or artistic work may circulate freely. Before that date the public also has access to it for free, but the authors receive a fair remuneration from the state based on the downloads and popularity ranking of said work. With this dies censorship and the dictatorship of Copyright. Public money is spent in a much more efficient way, there is no longer duplicity in public administrations, no senseless pharaonic works are made, investments with return are prioritized. The concessions of natural resources that were previously offered in derisory amounts to the private sector are now duly taxed proportionally on the income that companies earn from their exploitation. Thanks to the above, public debt is almost non-existent and taxes have been reduced to historical lows. Justice works independently but more logically, now doing justice is finally synonymous with doing what is right. The penalties for corruption in public office are exemplary. The same as those of any multinational that wants to enrich itself unintentionally at the expense of consumers. Europe is now 90% energy independent. Research in R&D has achieved that renewable energies cover practically all the demand of the continent. The lower energy prices allow public transport to be free. Pensioners have free energy for their homes. The economic bonanza means that we can allow ourselves to be more in solidarity with the developing countries, that we have gained specific weight in international politics, and that thanks to these funds and that influence we have been able to cut the once uncontrollable migratory flows. The Euro Army is a reality and protects our borders effectively, or acts in hot spots around the globe where they are needed. For example, eradicating piracy on maritime routes. We have made great progress in all fields and in all areas, social, economic, and scientific. We have overcome adversities of all kinds. In 2040 we still can not say that Europe is perfect, what if we can say emphatically is that every day that passes and every step we take more citizens of the Union feel or we are proud to be Europeans. Ad astra per aspera.