It’s November 14th in 2040. We are in full preparation of the Memorial Celebrations of 20 years, since the third and most devastating corona wave came along in Germany and undermined the social cohesion and peace in the country. Some hard and violent years followed, but it’s good to look back on the past 15 years, when step by step we got to where we are now. YES, there was some more technological development, but it was by far not what saved us and brought the turn. Too limited are the necessary ressources, to unevenly distributed. The globalised economy didn't get back to where it was before 2021, just because ressources were short of supply.
It takes some years of hard learning, but around 2026 the debate turned more towards the economic structures: money, growth, inequality... Common welfare instead of profit making becoming common ground for all political parties. After years of Sstagnation and Degrowth, which had devastating effects, it was clear, that economy needed to be organised differently, such that it was more stable and more just for everybody. “The market” is not considered the most efficient tool for distribution any more. This myth is pushed off the Throne everything got easy. New regulations were possible: JUST and Longterm oriented distribution of ressources, unconditional basic income for everybody, serious taxing of profits and Heritages (paying taxes is considered as noble and social!), circular economomy has been developedped at an increadible speed and ingenuity... YES, the shopping orgies in the 20ies – offline and online – are long past. I'm using the same mobile for 10 years now – just as the one I had at the beginning of the century – just that the current one is a little smartphone, fixed, updated and modernised regular, but with no use of ressources or costs. How did we survive in the 20ies? (Well, quite some didn't... Coronavirus...) Health has become a great value. In the old days I could not afford to get massages or other health treatments (unless I was already very sick and the insurance payed) – today this is part of every day life. We are supposed to take care of our physical and mental health, of our social wellbeing. Must people work in the social-health sector, or the environment-health sector. So important is education and culture. Production has gone down to a stable and sustainable low level, what is needed counts, and reducing the use of ressources is the main goal. Production is not profitable anymore. The sector is partially tax funded. The subsidies are justified, in order to keep a steady and reliable supply of necessary goods and so to keep machines and knowledge up-to-date and nearby. When I compare life today with that of 2020 I very much prefer today: calmer, healthier, more soliarity, better Educated people. It’s soooo good to know, that there is a way to live well on this earth without destroying the nature of any further.