The future of civilizations in 30 years?

[Spiffor]

In 30 Years, Sid Meier Jr's Civilization 9 will be wholly 3d and holographic.

[lord of the mark]

"For example: The whole reason the Jewish nation survived was that they adapted to the surrounding environemtn, and NOT as the conservatives claim "avoided any changes". If the Jews had avoided any changes, we'd have no mishna or gmara or rambam or what ever.

And I think it's stupid that whole masses of Jews, still dress in black clothes and fur hats, as if it was late 17th century poland. Grow up, for christ sake.
/End Jewish moment."

Note 1 - you surely mean conservative in the colloquial sense - not referring to Conservative Judaism (TM) (also called Masorti Judaism) since that movement entirely asserts that not just the Jewish Nation, but Judaism itself, and even Halacha made changes (as you correctly cite wrt Mishna, gemara, rambam, etc)

Note 2 - The guys in black clothes and fur hats, though i profoundly disagree with them, are quite grown up, and many (if perhaps less than advertised) have a very profound spirituality.

Note 3 - demographically the guys in black clothes and fur hats are doing far better than folks like us Siro. These is especially true here in the diaspora, where the birthright falls off dramatically as you move to the religious-cultural "left". Intermarriage may not be as much of a threat as once thought (at least in the USA, where the situation is better than in other diaspora communities) but its not a major demographic contributor either.

historically the only predominantly "left" (ie secular or Reform) jewish community to have significant natural increase is the Israeli community. And that community is afflicted with Yordeh and constant risks of, well, cultural assimilation. And im not sure youre keeping the birth rate up either. OTOH Israel, more than the diaspora, still sees movement of haredim into the modern camp, which can represent both demographic and spiritual-cultural renewal for the latter.

[lord of the mark]

" The cultural dominance will shift completely from anglo-germano-american hegemony to far eastern hegemony, with Japan being a much larger "culture exporter" than the US is right now."


well it is certainly interesting how weve gone from Japan being an economic powerhouse, with a culturally dominant USA, to an economically weak japan with strong cultural influence, against an economically dyanamic USA.

I think the far east is too heterogeneous to reach cultural hegemony any time soon. Japanese and Chinese, for example, are unrelated spoken languages, much further apart than any two Indo-european languages. On a more trivial level, is Anime popular in China? Is Starcraft a hit outside of Korea?

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


I'm pretty sure it'll be just as important as present-day lithuania though

well considering that Britain has been in relative decline from like 1865, and theyre still a great power, i think this is obviously silly.

[Q Classic]

yes. the 21st and 22nd centuries will belong to asia, as civilization returns to its cradle, away from the europeans who stole it and back to the east and south asians who brought it to its zenith long ago.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar


But thats assuming that the US stays the economic and military power for the next thirty years. The reason English is important to learn right now is because the US is the current economic and military superpower If Lithuania was, then we'd all be speaking Lithuanian right now.
If the US loses its power to China, then..... We'll all have to learn Chinese??!?!?!!

I think english has transcended US power, just as earlier it transcended the power of Great Britain. How many Indian novels are now written in English? How many Indians speak only English? How do Indians from the many minority communities speak with Hindi speakers? India alone means English will survive - even if the center of the english speaking world shifts from New York to Bombay, as it once shifted from London to New York. And thats just India - theres also the influence of English in Africa, the middle east, etc.

[Saras]

Originally posted by lord of the mark



well considering that Britain has been in relative decline from like 1865, and theyre still a great power, i think this is obviously silly.

considering this was a troll, you've been had

[Saras]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar

The reason English is important to learn right now is because the US is the current economic and military superpower If Lithuania was, then we'd all be speaking Lithuanian right now.

You already speak a VERY bastardized form of Lithuanian

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Datajack Franit
I thought that the whole western world was going to disappear because of birth rate collapse, obesity and mass immigration

well thats the difference between the USA and europe. Mass immigration doesnt lead to our collapse, but to our renewal. Immigrants from Mexico and from Viet Nam communicate with each other ---- in English. Immigrants of all kinds adopt American ways. The US in turn gains strength from them. The general command Centcom (and thus the troops in Iraq) is of Arab (specifically Lebanese Christian) descent. The former Secretary of the army is japanese-american, as is the secretary of transportation. And of course the Sec of State and the Nat. Security Advisor are African-Americans.

Our diversity is our strength!!!

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Saras


considering this was a troll, you've been had

as someone who is one-quarter litvak, im ashamed.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Saras


You already speak a VERY bastardized form of Lithuanian

note the anti-semites are always quick to note how many bush admin neo-cons are Jews. Now what would be more interesting would be to seperate out the galitzianers (and any sephardim) and determine how many Litvaks there are among them. A litvak campaign to dominate the world ?

[Saras]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


note the anti-semites are always quick to note how many bush admin neo-cons are Jews. Now what would be more interesting would be to seperate out the galitzianers (and any sephardim) and determine how many Litvaks there are among them. A litvak campaign to dominate the world ?

I knew they were up to something, these conspiring Litvaks

[:) Smiley]

US will continue its dominance due to its unique position of being an industrialized nation with population growth. While other nations will allow their population to age, the US responds to shortages of labor by opening the gates to more immigration. This is a positive feedback loop as eventually those immigrants will retire and create another labor shortage. There are projections that suggest the US population would hit 500 million in 50 years and keep growing.

[Lord Merciless]

Originally posted by Maniac


Some figures:
In 2002, the percentage of the population older than 60 was: +-25% in Japan, 23% in Western Europe and 17% in the USA. It is predicted that in 2050 that would grow to 43% in Japan, 37% in Europe and 28% in the USA. So though Europe will suffer from grampas like me in 2050, Japan and USA will have the same problem in a higher or lesser degree.

Japan is in bigger trouble than Europe. Unlike the previous 2, US can sustain itself with immigration. We know how to integrate immigrants.

[Japher]

We know how to integrate immigrants.

That is also why the US cultural domination will not yield to Asian cultures. America knows how not only to intigrate immigrants, but cultures as well.