Rise of Super Bugs or Global Pandemic in the 21st -century
Climate Change spurs Northern Resource Extraction Projects
Settlement in the Arctic Circle Increases
Demand for Western Diet Increases Antibiotics in Food supply
Aging Population and Chronic Disease Continues to Occupy Pharmaceutical focus
Climate Change causes more permafrost to melt
Aging population spends more time in hospitals and care homes
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Rise of Superbugs
Public space and institutions viewed as hazardous
Urban Density slows
Autonomous cars and preference for safety see rural areas attract more wealth
Need for bio-security sees wealthy buying up buffer properties
Desire to eliminate human contact from exchange drives up the use of drones and robotics for food delivery etc.
Smart cities are deployed increasingly for the purposes of contagion management
Google Quarantine becomes popular form of software (just in time predictive quarantines in pre-infected areas, selectivity minimizes disruption to other parts of the city)
Environmental strain increases as assumed energy related savings of population density are reduced
Automation increases to control population movements and limit contagion
Automotive companies deliver bio-secure autonomous vehicle fleet
Taxi and ride sharing declines
Sharing economy in general suffers
Hotel industry makes gains over airbnb through the intro of bio-security measures
VR becomes integrated into work as personal contact becomes increasing virtual
Contact sports limited, dangerous work fully automated
Increase in chronic illness from sedentary lifestyles
VR develops to engage people fully and increase heart rate/ build muscle through gaming
Addiction to VR
Physical world declines in value and more and more primary forms of social contact migrate to germ free digital platforms
Drastic Changes in Life Expectancy (not uncommon to die in mid-30s)
Long term financial planning acquires a family/legacy rather than individual perspective
Low growth economy and shorter lifespans puts strain on financial advisers to find high yield quick investments
Life insurance industry hit hard and must adjust policies
More investment in assets that can be enjoyed while people live (cottages, big estates, ect.)
Pensions become sustainable and more robust
Higher Education enrollment declines, human capital productivity falls
Cheap credit, desire to wander, sees undesirable mundane jobs automated rapidly to fill labour gap
Savings continue to decline, experience economy booms
Live for today mentality interacts positively with shift towards gig economy
Continued growth in experience economy, increased de-materialization of consumption
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New attitudes towards death in a digital period
As death strikes digital natives increased use of immortalizing chatbots
Social Media use and online presence becomes integral to longevity
Funeral Industry goes fully digital, servers are the cemeteries of the mid-21st-century
Increase in orphans and single income homes
Co-driver of platonic families as emotional and economic coping strategy
More risk taking behavior and focus on creating products/works of meaning
More artists, musicians, artisans
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Rise of Global Pandemic in the 21st -century
Climate Change spurs Northern Resource Extraction Projects
Indigenous and Inuit communities ground zero of global pandemic
Infrastructure and access to medical services-detection gives plague starting advantage
Rapid Depopulation
Post-plague economic boom
Massive shift in wealth through inheritance, nation-states gain unexpected windfall
Increased social and infrastructure spending
Populations with young demographics gain distinct advantage in repopulation process
Western states forced to replenish through aggressive immigration policies
Rise of the BioSecure Home
I Class differential of infection acute as those without money cannot afford bio-security
Residential biosecurity services become a billion dollar industry
Services provided by pharmaceutical companies, in US private hospitals provide service key revenue generator
Smart Cities become bio-security sites IoT and predictive algorithms effectively slow transmission but raise ethical concerns about quarantine zones
Social unrest and riots
UAV utilized as mode of domestic mode of repression
Quarantine softened by use of drones and robotics to deliver medicine and supplies to the infected
Ethic of care maintained
Developing and poor nations without smart cities at distinct disadvantage
Viruses are adapted to colder climates, population shifts south
Warm contained regions, NZ, AUS, Singapore become attractive "bunkers"
Wealth flight could lead to peculiar geo-political consolidations of wealth post-plague
Melted arctic and increased shipping through North passage make global ports prime vector in transmission
Plague mitigation props aggressive use of 3D printing to reduce contagion via complex global supply lines.