2009 State of the Future: Improving the Human Condition
The 2009 State of the Future, published by the Millennium Project, is available for pre-order.
The Millennium Project of WFUNA [World Federation of United Nations Associations] is a global participatory futures research think tank. ... This “report card on the future” distills the collective intelligence of over 2,700 leading scientists, futurists, scholars, and policy advisors who work for governments, corporations, non-governmental organizations, universities, and international organizations.
The Independent obtained an advance copy of the report and ran a collapse-of-civilization headline, repeated by Climate Progress.
Looking with friends at the materials available on the Millennium Project website, we were more intrigued by this table (pdf), rating the importance of various "elements" for "improving the human condition."
Rated most highly:
Ethics becomes a key element in most work relations and economic exchanges.
New GNP/GDP definitions that include all forms of national wealth: e.g., energy, materials, ecosystems, social and human capital.
Global commons—air, climate, oceans, biodiversity (bees necessary for agriculture, etc.) supported by international agreements among countries for very small (less than 1%) tax on selected categories including currency trading and international travel. The funds collected would amount to several hundred billion dollars per year for global public goods.
Receiving the lowest ratings:
Artificial economies emerging in virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life), which include both mirror images of our real world economy and a far richer palette of values and metaphors driving these virtual economies.
New local currencies that are valid only in some cities and local areas.
