Hello my fellow futurists!

Stay positive my friends all will be ok in the long run.

1 Political Trend 👆

It appears the Supreme Court of the United States of America will overturn Roe v. Wade. Regardless of which side you're on, in moments like this, I like to look past the outrage, the passion, and zoom out a bit.
This is a newsletter on trends in the next 10-20 years and it's clear that the role of the US judicial branch is one in question. If a handful of unelected people have this much power we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a pickle.

The US will see changes to its political structure soon - not because of this one issue, but because of all them.
The US is a representative democracy on paper, but even as a representative democracy it hasn't been representing the will of its people.
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We're so polarized that congress and the president can't sign meaningful legislation. Even if something has the support of a supermajority of citizens it doesn't pass. So we've abdicated legislation to the Supreme Court. It's not ideal even if sometimes they go your way.
I know if you're a liberal you don't want to hear talk of failing political systems, you're angry.
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Let me give you some comfort, the long-term trends are in your favor. Across the western world as a whole - the trends are pro equality, pro LGBTQ, pro abortion rights, etc.
These trends go hand in hand with rising urbanization rates, and reduced church attendance.

Long term, I'm bullish on the state of humanity and the planet. We will progress towards a sustainable, stable society, with human rights. We have been for a long time and will continue to do so, even if there are minor setbacks, or even whole regions that take a step backwards.
I see this moment — the overturning of Roe v. Wade — at the peak of the culture wars as inevitable.
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Why do we have these ultra-conservative judges, why is Hungary pulling hard-right, and why is Marine Le Pen surging at times?
Well, there's a small percentage of the population of the western world that vehemently don't like the trends. The're largely rural, religious, and conservative. They're also dying out along with church attendance and farming jobs.
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Based on political structures and a bit of the good old "squeaky wheel gets the grease" (incidentally enabled even by liberal media as that shit gets clicks, and clicks mean money) they currently have more influence than they should on pure numbers.
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My best guess here is that these folks see the tide coming in and this is their last-ditch effort to stay the tides of change. They can't though, not forever. As they do they actually push us faster toward the breakdown of our current political structures.
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Will abortion be illegal in the US? In the long run, of course not. At least not where most people live. That's the thing about people and democracies, you can't push back against the will of most people for long successfully. If you push back too hard, too long you get revolutions. Maybe it's inevitable.
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If the US breaks up, the conservative states have Texas to keep their economy afloat.
But do they?
Texas is going through much the same thing, they're government is throwing everything they can at an inevitable change. It's not even techies moving to Austin that will change Texas blue. It's their own kids growing up in cities, going to less church, etc.
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So even if Roe v Wade is reversed this year, take the long view. The US will not be the same 20 years from now, and most people in the western world will live in places that uphold the rights liberals are fighting for. It's just the way the trends are heading - regardless of minor setbacks.

2 crazy things ✌

🌴 Remote is still trending

AirBnB makes some moves to enshrine remote and even encourage digital nomadism.

​AirBnB​
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🦧 "Hobbit" humans still alive?

One anthropologist is arguing that an early hominid species, Homo Floresiensis, may not have died out.

It's now believed that human evolution was not even close to a straight line, and that Homo Sapiens lived alongside other early hominid species, eventually pushing them out and absorbing them through interbreeding.

But what if one group never fully died out? Unlikely for sure, but would be crazy to discover another hominid species.

​Live Science​

3 VR things ✌+👆

💋 VR kissing just became possible

Eventually, all the haptics we add will be too bulky, we'll put them into the room and project them onto the user. Same with light, project it around the room and into the users eyes..... then we'll have finally made the Holodeck ;)

🌐 Meta to release 4 headsets by 2024

Love them or hate them Meta has pushed the boundaries of VR forward and they're coming out with a bunch of headsets to follow up the success of the Oculus Quest 2

​Road to VR​

🥽 The most important VR game coming out

I don't like to link a ton of videos, but I don't think I've linked a Thrillseeker video ever and that's a shame as he produces fantastic VR content

Last week I talked about Bonelab as it's a very exciting game, why exactly though has been encapsulate well in this video by Thrillseeker.

If you're angry today, take a breath, and look to the long-term trends. They're on your side

I hope that helps.

Let me know. Just hit reply, I read and respond to everyone!
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Have an awesome week and see you next time!

Daniel
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Every revolution seems impossible at the beginning, and after it happens, it was inevitable.

Bill Ayers

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