Realcent.org

Where will we be at? A few of my thoughts, then please add your own.

Social Security will still be around, but retirement age will be 70 (by then) and benefits slashed 50%. The purchasing power of that stipend in five years will
be one third of what it is today.

The gold-backed yuan being the world's currency reserve, silver will be at a more historically "normal" ratio to gold of 1:15. With gold at $5000 (yes, they'll
still be playing their suppression games, even at much higher levels) silver will be above $333.

The EU will have disbanded and Russia reacquired most of the former Soviet Union. The United States will be a shadow of what it is today. We'll have enough
problems within our own country fending off jihadists to worry about being the world's police any longer. Europe will not be a favored travel destination

Zika virus will spread across North America's temperate regions, slowing as it expands into colder climates, but still decimating the birth rate as mothers fear
pregnancies that increasingly lead to microcephalic babies. A virtual plague of biblical proportion of Guillain-Barre syndrome patients will swamp the health care
system. Travel restrictions will be strictly enforced when it is learned that Ebola is still spreading, and feared unstoppable.

A few nukes by then? Who knows? Just what I've listed is depressing enough.

None of this will happen. We will be fine.

My prediction.

I think china will be struggling to eat rather then a world power. Dont forget they have now inflated their economy as well but without the buffer of having the worlds reserve currency. They are embracing automation even as it drives people out of work. which unfortunately often means WAR.

I dont see russia doing much except trying to wait out everyone else. They arent nearly as powerful as they like to pretend. Even if the Us falls most of the way to a third world nation I expect wed still be more powerful then them, economically and militarily.

For most of the rest of my guesses would depend on who wins the presidency. Even then Id guess a wide range of potentials.

Some broader type guesses I have would be greater austerity for the first world. With or without any attempts to stem the tide of globalization. Much worse if we continue down the path we are on now.

I could see social security being okay in dollar amounts, but perhaps not value. Medicaid and medicare where it is services promised rather then amounts I expect to fare much worse. Although perhaps not in the 5 year time frame youve given.

There are several technologies in the pipeline that hold interesting potentials, several of them could change these scenarios drastically. Some for the worst, some for the better.

I also expect the world to increasingly turn on Islam. This is in large part a result of globalization as well imo. I expect it to end up a full scale war in time, although not likely in the 5 year time frame given.

Id also go out on a limb and expect that when our debt based paradigm does finally end that we are likely to see a resurgence in personal responsibility and sovereignty. When a nation is fat on other peoples money its easy for many to think everything is others fault and we are all victims. (except white males of course) When things get tighter which I expect is a given though, I think liberty will be valued again. lol could easily be wrong and we end up in some poor dystopian future like some movie, but I doubt it personally. Even most nanny state people I know hold such values in the back of their mind under all their utopian ideals.

In a longer term time frame I expect there to be a growing anti tech movement, as we extend lives, and robots start doing more and more things. Like the luddites of the past.

In line with the last one I expect increasing radicalization of our own population. As much as I love the internet I think it drives it heavily. You can be part of whatever reality you want online. I dont claim to know the full scope of what drives the world or ultimate truth but there are several groups left and right (especially left) that live entirely inside mindsets not backed by most of reality. I think groups like BLM are just barely the start of this.

lol not exactly fitting the timeline you gave, but those are some of the trends I see. Theres a few others.

Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

Rodebaugh wrote:Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

I hate to break it to you but my cats and dogs do this already. Sleeping in a big pile on the porch.

Tim Kaine will be be President. PMs will be undervalued. Inner Cities will be crapholes. People will be fearful of the future. I will be found somewhere with a beer in my hand, bitching about taxes!

So really, my guess is that it won't be much different. Except we'll have a white or an orange president instead of a black one. Oh, and probably a lot more electric cars too, driving themselves even!

Three justices on the Supreme Court have retired and the liberal president has placed them with 3 liberal judges in addition to the replacement of Scalia. The left has filed a plethora of suits in order to get their agendas heard, not the least of which are numerous firearms-related items.
I agree with Treetop on many of his points but, regarding personal fiscal responsibility, can't see that happening unless it becomes 'cool' to live within your means.
I am concerned for my g'kids.

Reposted from BS with small edits:

Five years from now my son will have just finished his fourth year of college with one to go for a masters in cyber security, my daughter will have just finished her first year. God knows what she is majoring in, cuz I have no idea. But, her passion drives her to do amazing things. Both are paying most if not all their own way. No free rides in this family.

We'll have gone thru yet another round of presidential elections. And with any luck for all of us, both major parties will have continued to implode. The Greens and Libertarians will have taken advantage of the situation and will have people in local, regional and a couple in state offices. TPTB have decided to allow all four party candidates and the independent to debate in order to keep the masses involved in the process.

For all the possible economic problems that present themselves, the worst in 2019 was contained, lied about, printed off, bailed in and otherwise minimalized so that the very mild "gains" we've experienced as normal since the "Great Recession" and following waterfall drop wasn't perceived as being anything near as bad as '08. When things are shatty, it's not as easy for us to feel it as bad as when times were good.

The Chinese RMB has been a part of the IMF basket of currencies for almost 5 years. SDRs are now the reserve currency of the industrial world. The RMB is the international currency of the BRICS and other third world nations since she revealed her actual gold held in support of the RMB by The Peoples Bank of China and tonnage the Chinese people also hold for themselves. Puny western world.

Our retirement is about an additional 5 more years down the road, give or take. The only thing keeping me from retiring early is the need of our young people to transition into our world. The only thing keeping me from retiring overseas is the free college they are now offering not only the kids but, anyone who wants to learn, or relearn, or learn new . . . including seniors.

After all, we are the biggest voting block out there, they gotta keep getting our votes somehow. We're getting really tired of the empty promises and blatant lies. The first class I'm taking is Mandarin. This opportunity to return to higher education also allows me to continue to counsel and serve young people.

Don't let me paint this picture to rosy, 1/4 of the world is still in turmoil. We are still fighting an undeclared war to protect our (corporate and government) international oil interests to feed the continuation of the current system. It still appears the climate is still changing. Living reefs continue to bleach out and die. Various virus continue to pop their ugly heads up and threaten to mutate in something uncontainable. Nations continue to crumble into anarchy.

We continue but with increasing reluctance to allow our children to die protecting the industrialized worlds' oil interests. The survivors of this experience continue to commit suicide at rates several times higher than the civ population, regardless of gender, as do the youth of our nation but at a slower rate than those with mil experience.

That's how I see the next five years. Not a lot of difference from right now. In fact, a lot is right now and the rest are logical continuations. Ok, some are imagination.

Thanx Ray!

There is a lot riding on this election and the next one, and any reveals that occur during that time, so the possible paths are divergent. I could see Trump, Clinton, Kaine, or another as president in 5 years. Regardless, I believe TT and JB have the trends more right than wrong, with a continuing decline that appears slow in the moment but is actually shockingly fast when you bother to step back and examine from the distance of a couple of decades.

My apologies to generalize about an entire generation (or two) but few under 40 (exceptions are obvious) have studied enough history (and what they have studied has been greatly distorted) to appreciate how we've changed in the past 40 years, and how much of that change has not been positive. Those trends will continue, and any exceptions to them will be the result of unpredictable (in time) discontinuities or instabilities, which will almost always be in the "wrong" direction. A reversion to better times is possible for a limited group/area, but if so would only result from some very traumatic event. So 5 years from now will look substantially worse than today, though we will continue to be the frogs in the heating pot.

The empires collecting power (ISIS, Russia, China, Pakistan, India) will continue to do so and will continue to acquire influence and power until they rub up against a force that is willing to make a stand (whether that is the US, Israel, or one of themselves). War or wars are inevitable, unless there is no one willing to stand against them. Freedom will become increasingly difficult to find, and unlike 300 years ago there will be no place to go on this earth to seek asylum.

What?? Are you guys all Canuks??
We Americans don't worry about 5 years down the road!!
"La la la la live for today!! La La La La Live for today!!!!"

THINGS THE SAME:
Politicians on both sides of the aisle will still be corrupt.
There will still be people talking about global warming.
Usain Bolt will still be able to outrun me.

THINGS DIFFERENT:
Not only will there be autonomous cars- there will be cargo ships on autopilot (not sure what they will do to fend off pirates).
Our tax code will be even more complicated than it is now.
Many large stores (i.e., K-Mart, Sears, Macy's, etc.) will either be vacant or the space will be used for something totally different (i.e., rezoned as office space).
The U.S. will finally stop minting pennies.

And now, for my first (meaningful and interesting) post.
The following are headlines from newspapers across the next five years, grouped into related story lines, all presented in a roughly chronological order. Select headlines are accompanied by an "understory," revealing the details not mentioned in the "actual article". Partial credit to my dad (John Brickner) for some prompting and select phrases. I am certain at least one complete story line will come true, in addition to parts of the majority of the remaining ones.

Courts consider new music “dying genre” amidst record levels of copyright infringement lawsuits

Human music now dead; computers fully responsible for musical entertainment; musical instrument production slows;

Gibson & Fender officially shut down guitar production; Jimi Hendrix & Chuck Berry heard rolling in their graves;



Major news syndicates unite against sharing good news; Fox CEO quoted it is “Too much work, bad for publicity, bad for fear”

TWC news leads the vague news campaign; articles now reading “Bad things happened. Feel sorry and scared.”

Time Magazine reporters arrested for publishing article on Zika Virus cure; 20/20 to air episode on “scandalous story of good news”



Ivy League study finds Americans unable to read words longer than five letters or two syllables; 99% will not understand this headline

Teens fully incapable of recognizing people from before 2000; near perfect identification of Mario, Sonic, and Clank

“Healthy Eating” as extinct as non-GMO corn; Fast Food sales spike as agricultural subsidies and grocery stores shut down

Following the “(When to) Piss App,” Apple releases “Dookie App,” and “Sleep App,” seeking “To further integrate our products into daily life”



Kanye West and Lindsey Lohan redeclare presidential candidacy; Democrats & Republicans nonresponsive

Katy Perry and Lindsey Lohan agree to be the other’s VP; Kanye’s VP status unknown; Baby Boomers fear millennial support of celebrities

American Youtubers denying claims of presidential candidacy; Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky nonresponsive to similar rumors

Incumbent Hillary Clinton throws in the towel; States “Too much support for millennial celebrities”

Democrats and Republicans unite and form The American Party to prevent “A Celebrity White House”; Candidate not yet declared

Harry Macintosh runs as Independent candidate; Backed by Bill Gates, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai
Understory: Desperate tech gurus unite to stop “Celebrity White House.” Collaborate to create a perfect virtual candidate. Subtly hack and distribute all necessary documentation, records, and background to appropriate institutions. Macintosh is digitally designed to appeal to the general Merka public through appearance, manner, body language and voice. Polls prove success with the spectrum of voters except Millennials.

Harry Macintosh yet to appear live; 25 appearances by screen to date;

Baby Boomers and Gen X find “Near exact match of my political views” with “Independent Mac”

Millennials elect Madame President Lindsey Lohan; Kanye brought to White House as First Boy Toy; Kim Kardashian sends her Blessings
Understory: Lohan privately invites Kim to complete the à trois. Kim granted funds to produce a new reality show, In the White House, to replace Keeping up with the Kardashians



Supreme Court convinces Guinness to create world record for stupidest lawsuit in response to “time-wasting cases from morons”

Teen sets new record for stupidest lawsuit; sued high school for not providing fast food in cafeteria; “I can’t even order a Mountain Dew snow cone”



Ignorance of surroundings spikes Pokémon Go death rate to Pandemic levels; First Boy Toy Kanye declares state of emergency as rate exceeds gun deaths

U.N. nations meet in Rio to bring Pokémon Go death rate to pre-2016 level; Rio Accords expect 200+ nation attendances to adopt The Stop Go Protocol


-_- I want to be wrong, except it will be so fulfilling to say I was right.

Landscapers will continue to import drought tolerant species from around the globe, causing my allergies to get even worse, until I eventually end up being mistaken for an alien species called "red eyed snot blob."

Hey bluejuice915, welcome to Realcent. I like the Stop Go protocol.

A few predictions:
1 - federal funds rate is still below 1%
2 - inflation is 5%
3 - trillion dollar annual deficits ad infinitum
4 - QE6 in progress
5 - EU has lost 2-3 more members
6 - gold and silver up 50%
7 - stocks flat from current levels
8 - Obama is still president

Obama cannot lawfully be president. He might be "president", and thus an open target for high-speed lead poisoning.

bluejuice915 wrote:Following the “(When to) Piss App,” Apple releases “Dookie App,” and “Sleep App,” seeking “To further integrate our products into daily life”

I almost nailed this. Forewarning that the following comment would probably be considered inappropriate most other places. But, there is now an app that wirelessly connects to a ring. You put said ring on your dick and the app can tell you how "good" your sex is. That's all I feel comfortable sharing. I'm claiming half credit accuracy for at least nailing the incredible stupidness of what someone thinks we need help tracking.

I don't know but certainly we won't be better off. I think there will be more civil unrest. No gas, no bombs but more advanced weapons causing grids to shut down.

Out of the Army...

bluejuice915 wrote:

bluejuice915 wrote:Following the “(When to) Piss App,” Apple releases “Dookie App,” and “Sleep App,” seeking “To further integrate our products into daily life”

I almost nailed this. Forewarning that the following comment would probably be considered inappropriate most other places. But, there is now an app that wirelessly connects to a ring. You put said ring on your dick and the app can tell you how "good" your sex is. That's all I feel comfortable sharing. I'm claiming half credit accuracy for at least nailing the incredible stupidness of what someone thinks we need help tracking.

No credit for predicting something that happened over a year before the predicktion (sic). http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7519630

johnbrickner wrote:Reposted from BS with small edits:
<snip>
The only thing keeping me from retiring overseas is the free college they are now offering not only the kids but, anyone who wants to learn, or relearn, or learn new . . .
<snip>
Thanx Ray!

Validated in less than a year. TY state of NY.

Recyclersteve wrote:THINGS THE SAME:
Politicians on both sides of the aisle will still be corrupt.
There will still be people talking about global warming.
Usain Bolt will still be able to outrun me.

THINGS DIFFERENT:
Not only will there be autonomous cars- there will be cargo ships on autopilot (not sure what they will do to fend off pirates).
Our tax code will be even more complicated than it is now.
Many large stores (i.e., K-Mart, Sears, Macy's, etc.) will either be vacant or the space will be used for something totally different (i.e., rezoned as office space).
The U.S. will finally stop minting pennies.

Steve, your comments are great, but the U.S. is still minting pennies. I'm glad they haven't stopped because I want to clean out coppers (especially wheats) for face!

Let's go back to the OP. It causes me to pause a moment before I reply to a post of Ray's, who has been off-list for years. But when Ray was right, he was often quite right. His predictions below haven't completely come true, but he has actually come fairly close to the mark on many of them. Uncomfortably close.

beauanderos wrote:Where will we be at? A few of my thoughts, then please add your own.

My notations on his predictions are inserted...

beauanderos wrote:Social Security will still be around, but retirement age will be 70 (by then) and benefits slashed 50%. The purchasing power of that stipend in five years will
be one third of what it is today.

SS is still around, and the retirement age hasn't yet gotten to 70, but the government is pushing people to self-select to delay to 70. Ray is close to the mark on the loss of purchasing power of the stipend - inflation had been ramping up for years, and in 2021 it broke loose. I haven't done the calculation on loss of purchasing power, but if it hasn't lost 33% yet of the past 5 years, it won't be much longer.

beauanderos wrote:The gold-backed yuan being the world's currency reserve, silver will be at a more historically "normal" ratio to gold of 1:15. With gold at $5000 (yes, they'll
still be playing their suppression games, even at much higher levels) silver will be above $333.

He was too early for this prediction, though the initial stages of his prediction are starting to play out. Silver is still relatively depressed at about 75:1, but prices made the first step of a new bull in 2020 before taking a breather, and we may see the second stage ramp up soon. We know the Chinese want to be the dominant player, but they believe time is on their side, so they are in no hurry to push too early.

beauanderos wrote:The EU will have disbanded and Russia reacquired most of the former Soviet Union. The United States will be a shadow of what it is today. We'll have enough
problems within our own country fending off jihadists to worry about being the world's police any longer. Europe will not be a favored travel destination

The first nation to leave the EU occurred when the UK left, which stunned the EU supporters, and contrary to predictions from the left, the UK has continued to stand. The EU remains but is largely ineffective, and while it may remain a social club for awhile, it is bogged down in a bureaucratic morass of it's own making and has been unable to make any important decisions correctly or in a timely manner, and that will persist.

Russia started reacquiring former Soviet territory in 1999 using brutal but largely hidden tactics, and continued that for the next 20 years in small bites, so that prediction was a bit of a no-brainer. With Putin's bold (though completely illegal) move into Ukraine in 2022 they have pulled the hood off of their plan and it should now be obvious to all of Putin's larger intent.

With just 12 months under Biden the US has lost it's dominance and leadership. It's incredible how quickly you can gut a country when you are actively working to do it, and have the broad support of the major institutions to do the same. Yes, we have more than enough problems internally, but frankly most of them are self-created - nothing like shooting yourself in the foot while the world burns around you.

beauanderos wrote:Zika virus will spread across North America's temperate regions, slowing as it expands into colder climates, but still decimating the birth rate as mothers fear
pregnancies that increasingly lead to microcephalic babies. A virtual plague of biblical proportion of Guillain-Barre syndrome patients will swamp the health care
system. Travel restrictions will be strictly enforced when it is learned that Ebola is still spreading, and feared unstoppable.

Ray was a former firefighter and practicing RN, and well acquainted with health issues. He recognized pandemic as an issue, though he picked the wrong virus (but he knew there was one out there somewhere, if not zika). Even COVID may only be a precursor to what might come later, but the past two years have gone into history as a global health emergency with millions dead and (as or even more importantly) the response created a lost of liberties issue in how governments have responded to it, as it has brought out the totalitarian elements in every government.

beauanderos wrote:A few nukes by then? Who knows? Just what I've listed is depressing enough.

Nukes may be coming.

Ray, thanks for the predictions - I'm sorry to say that you were more right than wrong.