After the West had dominated the world for over 500 years, the tide turned abruptly in the 1920s. The once successful countries increasingly developed into care cases: incompetent politicians, declining growth, exploding national debt, increasing inequality, ageing populations, disintegrating social structures. Representative democracy has been hijacked by market players, the free market economy is now nothing more than a tool of capital, the rule of law is atrophying and civil society is being kept in a permanent state of crisis by constant media bombardment. The political decline is unmistakable. At the same time, Asia is developing into the new center of the world and the populations of the West look enviously at the achievements, but are incapable of adapting and developing further. Thank you Europe for nothing and goodbye!

By 2040, the expansion of renewable energies will have moved away from batteries and combustion engines, and we will only be using green hydrogen. There are only a few heating systems left that run on fossil fuels. The major oil suppliers have shrunk considerably because there is hardly any need for fossil fuels any more. Solar technology has progressed to such an extent that an entire house can be supplied with just a few solar modules. The political situation has changed dramatically, democracy no longer exists in the usual way, now the people decide on controversial issues by referendum. The European Union has agreed on a unified bureaucracy and policy, so most laws apply across Europe. We will have a European defense structure and thus be independent of other powers.

My child will be 17 years old, his hair will probably no longer be blonde, but darker. But no one will be able to tell that he is different, no one will ask him where he comes from or his parents or when he learned German because of his face. I wish so much that in 2040 he doesn't have to worry and can openly say that he is Jewish. That his name is Hebrew and not Greek, that no one will attack him, that he can grow up without a packed suitcase in his heart. I hope and hope, even if it is difficult for me, I hope that the future will be better.

After the world sank into a right-wing quagmire for many years in 2025, many states, including Russia, the USA and China, asserted their interests by force of arms. Now, in 2050, the world's population has finally changed its mindset and the right-wing governments have almost all been replaced. Nations live together peacefully and engage in lively economic and cultural exchange.