My 2008 Forecast
So this is something I write for my occasional foreign reader. So if my Icelandic review of the year 2007 was inward looking. This will be more outward. So I wanted to spell out some of the trends in 2007 that I see carry over into 2008. Some are good. Others are bad. But they are all influential. But I’m an optimist. I think that no matter how bad things may look. That as humanity we are steadily moving towards a brighter, better future.
There was one trend in 2007 that I particularly didn‘t like. That‘s the general xenophobia that I‘m starting to feel around me. Maybe it‘s the fact that I‘ve had the opportunity to actually meet people from around the world. Who are smarter and more driven than many of the domestic crowd I meet on an everyday basis. Not that this is a local trend. It seems that within Europe there‘s growing xenophobia. Fair enough. Given the fairly constant drumming of the Orwellian terror fear it‘s hardly surprising.
What bothers me is how we here in Iceland behave towards foreigners. I believe that living in Iceland is wonderful. But I don’t see that there’s a natural attraction to living here. The weather is awful sometimes. It’s expensive. The language is difficult. But I consider myself lucky to live here. Possibly because I’ve experienced, even if it’s only been for relatively short periods of time, to live somewhere else. That experience also has made me empathize with those who choose to move abroad. It’s full of difficulties. The easy course is to stay at home. That means that those we get here, are people who are willing to take risk. Just like in the late 800’s when a bunch of Norwegians decided to follow the crow across uncharted sea. So we should welcome these new settlers. Instead we worry. Political parties play on xenophobic fears. Some people think that they deserve worse living conditions or pay than the rest of us. This simply goes against my fundamental idea of how we should behave towards people around us.
Another dark trend is the way the environment is degrading around us. Just a couple of days ago I saw this video. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/192 It’s a talk by environmental scientist David Keith on climate change. What’s particularly scary about his presentation is when he points out that we are in a worst case scenario trend when it comes to climate change. However, I see a positive in this. I firmly believe that we are smart enough to take this seriously. That we’ll see amazing changes happening over the next few years in how we tackle this. Because, in 2007 (or possibly earlier), we’ve reached the peak of oil production. The issue with alternatives has been the relatively low price of oil. Now this will change. Environmental degradation is furthermore, forcing us to rethink a whole range of things. This however, is the opportunity. With an emphasis on alternative energy sources and ways to diminish our environmental impact this is creating a whole range of new industries.
Given these two trends there might be every reason to feel pessimistic about the future. But I also think that we are moving in the right direction. The vision that education moves us forward is increasingly proving itself to be true. This causes friction. But I see efforts of organizations like Kiva – www.kiva.org – utilizing the Net to give those most in need an opportunity. As an example of how much we can accomplish. So the spread of information technology is among the most positive trends of 2008. The spread of equality is another. A society that leaves behind a particular section based upon outdated ideas or even something as backward as a cast system. In a global system based upon brain power. This just doesn’t make any sense. That’s another positive trend I see. I believe that globalization is a positive force. I certainly hope that trend continues in 2008.
So in 2008 I want to see more of the world. To better understand my fellow humans. To see for myself if my thinking holds up to the real world.
There was one trend in 2007 that I particularly didn‘t like. That‘s the general xenophobia that I‘m starting to feel around me. Maybe it‘s the fact that I‘ve had the opportunity to actually meet people from around the world. Who are smarter and more driven than many of the domestic crowd I meet on an everyday basis. Not that this is a local trend. It seems that within Europe there‘s growing xenophobia. Fair enough. Given the fairly constant drumming of the Orwellian terror fear it‘s hardly surprising.
What bothers me is how we here in Iceland behave towards foreigners. I believe that living in Iceland is wonderful. But I don’t see that there’s a natural attraction to living here. The weather is awful sometimes. It’s expensive. The language is difficult. But I consider myself lucky to live here. Possibly because I’ve experienced, even if it’s only been for relatively short periods of time, to live somewhere else. That experience also has made me empathize with those who choose to move abroad. It’s full of difficulties. The easy course is to stay at home. That means that those we get here, are people who are willing to take risk. Just like in the late 800’s when a bunch of Norwegians decided to follow the crow across uncharted sea. So we should welcome these new settlers. Instead we worry. Political parties play on xenophobic fears. Some people think that they deserve worse living conditions or pay than the rest of us. This simply goes against my fundamental idea of how we should behave towards people around us.
Another dark trend is the way the environment is degrading around us. Just a couple of days ago I saw this video. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/192 It’s a talk by environmental scientist David Keith on climate change. What’s particularly scary about his presentation is when he points out that we are in a worst case scenario trend when it comes to climate change. However, I see a positive in this. I firmly believe that we are smart enough to take this seriously. That we’ll see amazing changes happening over the next few years in how we tackle this. Because, in 2007 (or possibly earlier), we’ve reached the peak of oil production. The issue with alternatives has been the relatively low price of oil. Now this will change. Environmental degradation is furthermore, forcing us to rethink a whole range of things. This however, is the opportunity. With an emphasis on alternative energy sources and ways to diminish our environmental impact this is creating a whole range of new industries.
Given these two trends there might be every reason to feel pessimistic about the future. But I also think that we are moving in the right direction. The vision that education moves us forward is increasingly proving itself to be true. This causes friction. But I see efforts of organizations like Kiva – www.kiva.org – utilizing the Net to give those most in need an opportunity. As an example of how much we can accomplish. So the spread of information technology is among the most positive trends of 2008. The spread of equality is another. A society that leaves behind a particular section based upon outdated ideas or even something as backward as a cast system. In a global system based upon brain power. This just doesn’t make any sense. That’s another positive trend I see. I believe that globalization is a positive force. I certainly hope that trend continues in 2008.
So in 2008 I want to see more of the world. To better understand my fellow humans. To see for myself if my thinking holds up to the real world.
Ummæli
Don't about the xenophobia but the Americans are becoming conservative and spiteful towards certain ethnic groups (Mexican and Muslim). Maybe that could change too.
I have good wishes for 2008...2007 was terrible all around.