Hi Hanrahan,

Well, we got through 2020. But to give you heart, maybe 2021 is going to be the Year of Doom and Ruin. So barely 364 days to go before The End :)

Joe

Here's one for the eco-freaks and supporters of useless masks and loss of freedoms due to the China virus, which seems to have cured the common 'flu: 1.5billion masks will enter our oceans this year.

China will certainly be starting off 2021 well. They have leaked the news that they made $10,240billion or two thirds of their GDP out of the virus they created. China watchers say that they are trying to demonstrate that some good can come out of disaster.

For those still obsessing over Trump, whether or not he is the most admired man in the US, he caused the Chinese a lot of angst when he cracked down on Wall Street influence over American politics. China has "a lot of friends" in Wall Street, and they are cock a hoop over Biden's shonky election because he is a good friend of Wall Street. The CCP and Wall Street will be able to resume their cosy relationship.

Paul1405, great to see that your grandchildren are engaged in thinking about their futures. But may I suggest to them that the greatest issue for their generation will be the raise of AI and robotics.

This topic has been overshadowed by climate change/environmental discussions for the last decade and more so has not received much interest. But in the last few years some public commentators have been starting to seriously question it and are trying to raise its awareness. To me it seems as though it is going to be a serious issue soon. How soon? Well here's a clip that's been going viral in the last couple of days. It's produced by Boston Dynamics show casing their latest efforts in their robot techonogies- it's going to be very, very soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn3KWM1kuAw

I would like know what young folk, such as your grandchildren, think about this.

Hi thinkabit,

My grandchildren aspire to a good education with the potential for worthwhile interesting employment, with the benefits that would bring. The futuristic robots are something of great interest, and robots already play a sizable roll in modern industry. BTW I noted the robots were dancing to a 50 year old tune. Hopefully future robots will be servants and not masters, as sometimes science fiction portrays them to be.

Its so good that we have so many forumites with such a positive outlook for the future, led by the crusty old fart brigade with their message of doom and gloom. These guys are always harking back to the good old days of 1950, where they belong!

Paul1405,

I wouldn't like to be one of the future generation come 2050.

World population will be at least 10 billion - double the sustainable population of the planet.

The planet will be hotter with frequent damaging droughts, floods and storms caused by unstoppable adverse climate change because effective action against anthropogenic global warming was left too late.

Some countries will no longer have an environment worthwhile talking about and people will be flooding across borders into countries that do.

Fresh water will be a premium (with some places paying exorbitant prices for drinking water).

There will be constant fears of worldwide famines, wars, and pandemics similar to the current one.

Think of the worst period of human history and multiply by 100.

I really pity the future generation.

Dear Mr. Opinion,

I am well aware that the conflict between Taiwan and China BEGAN as a civil war, Taiwan being all that remains of the original China following the communist resurgence.

However, that was very long ago and Taiwan has long since given up all aspirations to regain the mainland and instead established itself as an independent country.

And please stop calling China "PRC" because the communist Chinese regime has nothing to do with the Chinese people. Using that term only aids CCP propaganda. Only Taiwan is its people's republic, but they are no longer Chinese.

And IF China attacks Taiwan, which is still a very big IF, then Taiwan will prevail, with the help of the USA under Biden. China's window of opportunity to call Trump a bluff, is quickly closing.

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Dear Ttbn,

I can only urge you to take courage: The China-virus is at its last throes, the vaccines will beat it to the ground in the next few months, then Australia's emergency declaration will be lifted and our freedoms restored as before. Same about China, because Biden will not hesitate to use all his force, including nukes, should China attack Taiwan or Australia.