In the year 2040 . . .

Imagine the Green Generation

“Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one”

John Lennon

The color green has been associated with rebirth, growth, and success; consequently, the Green Generation received its name from the many strides it made to revive the environment, economy, true nature of democracy, and family structure. America has made many strides over the twenty-first century. The world is quite different from the year I took Global Peace and Conflict my sophomore year in college compared to today. This year of 2040 we have made much impact on the world around us.

The standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people and the way these services and goods are distributed within a population. Americans in the beginning of the twenty-first century were consuming about eighty percent of the world’s total resources, including labor as materials. The standard of living was high in our country while other countries had people who were not even able to fulfill the basic needs of life. While there was enough food on the earth to distribute to everyone, people in undeveloped countries starved. Americans realized if we continued consuming at such an alarming rate wars would be fought. In fact a couple were, i.e. the Iraqi Conflict which led to almost World War III. While America still consumes a great deal of resources, the waste is becoming more environmentally friendly. Slowly, our consumption is declining. We realized that we must significantly reduce the rate we use resources in order to slow down conflicts because of resources. Recycling legislature was passed so that most of what we consume can be reused again instead of thrown out.

Material wealth has changed drastically in the past thirty years. Sports utility vehicles that consumed great amounts of gas were a sign of status. Today vehicles are much more fuel efficient - getting around ninety to a hundred miles because of technology advances. In fact, the last generation has made great contributions to alternate energy supplies which are realistically ten to fifteen years away. Material wealth has increased in countries that were undeveloped around the turn of the century. For example, people in Ghana used to only have an abundance food one month out of the year; however, now thanks to agrarian reforms the food the people farm stays in the country to feed their peoples before being exported. Also, people in these undeveloped countries have benefited from low, affordable housing that was built in cooperation with the United Nations II and the Global Peace Corps. Now people can live in housing without paying steep prices due to no limits on rent in places like Ghana.

Emotional wealth has increased throughout the globe. As traditional gender roles fade, men have begun expressing their emotions in many faucets. In the early 21^st century, seeing a man cry was an unusual and shameful experience. However, today, people find this hard to imagine because men and women both express themselves in a range of emotions. Creative wealth is also on the rise throughout the globe. Workplaces in the past twenty-five years have begun including flexible hours. People can now work at home for more of their work. This allows for much more creativity.

The relationship between the standard of living and wealth has to do with money. More affluent societies have a greater standard of living and wealth. Money buys things. Also, money to a certain point actually can buy you happiness. Studies have shown that the more money a person has up to the national average does make a person happier. People who do not have to worry about housing or even where their next meal is coming from are going to be more emotionally stable. Also, positions tied with more money have the more creativity attached. For example, a professor has more creativity in his job than the cleaning-person. The more money a country has, the greater the standard of living and wealth one will find in that country.

The definition of comfort is the state of and conditions in which somebody feels physically relaxed. Comfort is being able to not worry about food, affordable housing, and job security. Comfort not having to worry one’s safety due to conflict in one’s home due to domestic violence; community due to gangs and police brutality; country due to war; ect. In 2040 the world has made great strides to reduce the causes of discomfort.

According to John Gaultung, an early student of peace studies there are several things necessary to humans to survive: clean air, water, food, a pleasant environment, latrines, clothes, shelter, quiet, space, and privacy. Unnecessary items would be more than what you need. For example, a home is necessary for shelter and privacy; however, for a family of four, a three-story house with a three-car garage is extravagant. Because of public transportation, it is unnecessary in most places, except rural areas, to have more than one vehicle. Clothes are necessary, but name-brands are not necessary for anyone’s survival.

In the early 21^st century, needs were met using homo-centric development, where human needs were given priority over nature. However, as this development occurred, earth’s resources were being depleted faster than they could renew. The air was becoming polluted and scientists were beginning to realize this caused global warming. Water was being polluted and fought over. Land was being stripped of resources haphazardly, which caused problems to the surrounding area.

People realized humans needed to find more of a homo/nature-balance, in which human needs could be filled without destroying the environment at such an alarming rate. The Air Treaty of 2015 was put into effect. It calls for all countries to reduce the emission of green house gasses yearly. Also, countries began using China’s circulating, indoor water system as a prototype. In this system, water sent to treatment plants is heavily treated and sent back to the homes. This reduces pollution because the waste is not sent into the rivers, causing algae growth. Once each country has gathered enough water into their system, water does not need to be continuously taken from the rivers. The circulating, indoor water system decreases tensions in regions where water is scarce. Also, technology has made process of treating salt-water and making it drinkable less expense than previously thought possible. Stricter legislation has been enforced around the globe in relationship to mining and timbering. Gold, copper, and diamond mines are being investigated. Different nonprofit corporations have working with undeveloped countries in which illegal timbering is an issue. They are trying to create jobs in which the people do not have to cut down trees to farm and survive. Harsher punishments are being imposed on corporations who are imposing international laws.

The relationship between men and women has changed. Gender roles are becoming more equal. Women have made great strides. Americans have elected two women vice presidents into office. In the upcoming election the only candidates who are still in the running are females, ensuring that America will have their first female president. Also, women have fought to truly make wages equal and break the glass ceiling. Men help out more equally in families, helping do the housework and to take care of the children. Also, gay rights have been given. People no longer can be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

Globalization has begun to structure the world and decrease the power of nation-states. Countries cannot sustain themselves, but must trade among themselves to have everything they need. America cannot sustain itself. We need to import oil and other products to survive. We outsource jobs so that we can buy materials for less. Nations in the Core have been slowly integrating the Gap to have the Core’s rule sets. However, some religions and various groups have been resisting these rule sets that the Core has forced upon them. Since the Core is so powerful, the Gap has to fight war in innovative ways. Yet, the Core deems these groups that want to be left alone to their own rule sets as terrorists.

America is run by the power elite both on a local and national scale. On the local scale business and financial leaders in the community have substantial way in the way a community is run. The power elite – top figures in the government, military, and corporate world – make great decisions that impact the country. While the United States is a democracy, hidden agendas of the power elite have a surprising impact on laws. In the last few decades, laws have been passed that attempt to equal the political playing field. America is trying to have each person’s vote truly only count once. Instead of becoming a money-raising race, elections are becoming more about the issue. Each party is given an allotted time on television at no cost to air their platform. There is a cap on the money each party is allowed to raise.

Klare believed that conflict is caused by resources. War and other conflicts have occurred because of water, oil, diamonds, copper, timbering, ect. A large oil reserve was found in Antarctica. Combined with new technology that has made it possible to drill there, World War III was averted. Alternative energy sources are just around the corner.

The job market shifted from manufacturing to services. Outsourcing occurred and went into countries that would make products for less. Today we have more service related industries – everything from doctors to McDonalds. Capitalism is here to stay in America.

Education has become more federally funded, which means the government has begun to take over schools. The government realized how standardized testing has a testing bias towards white, upper-middle class children. Also, metal detectors are mandatory in each school and college building to reduce violence that occurred frequently in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. To decrease violence in school peer mediation, natural helper, and other student training has occurred in middle and high school.

Social movements have been effective expressions of anger and rage which have brought about change. Since Gandhi, social movements have been used to impact history. Social movements in the 2030s brought about agrarian reform in undeveloped countries. They brought important issues into view. Ghana, which has a lot of farming, used to export their food crops while the rest of the people starved. However, social movements of the poor brought this issue into global light and helped legislation pass to right this wrong. Also, the social movement in Ghana helped bring about reasonable housing for the average citizen. In the early 21^st century, there were no caps on rent. Many people lived in slums because they could not afford a place to live.

In June 2027 Americans in the lower class protested minimum wage and welfare being cut. Workers in the food, retail, and other service sectors went on strike. Much chaos ensued as the strike went on for fifteen days. Upper-middle class people could not go without their morning Starbucks or evening meal out. It was even hard to find a grocery store that was open. Legislature held emergency meetings to pass legislature that increased minimum wage and reinstated welfare. However, welfare has changed greatly. It includes programs that help people on welfare to learn a specific trade that will enable them to secure a better paying job. Also, programs were created that help lower-class people learn everyday skills to be successful.

The cost of medicine is being lowered as boards review patents. Prices of medicines to help treat AIDS, tuberculosis, and other life-threatening illnesses that are prevalent in undeveloped countries are being lowered. Also in medicine, there is a controversial drug trying to be approved by the FDA which has been proven to reduce aggression in males. Some believe these drugs should be given to men who were imprisoned for violent acts. Those in favor of the drug say it will reduce violence in society; however, the other faction says we should focus more on how children are raised. They question if the drug is ethical. People believe that children should be raised to never hit back in retaliation.

Children are being raised to be responsible for their actions. Boys as well as girls are being taught that it is acceptable to cry and not to hit back. Character education is being taught in elementary schools. Conflict resolutions skills are also being taught to children from preschool to high school. They are being taught to recycle and that less can be more.

While I did not become a radical social activist, I still played a part in the change our world has seen from the early 21^st century to now. I started recycling my sophomore year in college. I married in 2014 to a man I met in graduate school. We participated in the social movement of 2027. We went to Ghana together on a two-year stint in the Peace Corps. My husband and I equally share household chores and make financial decisions together. We raised our two children to not be violent or hit back. We gave our boy dolls to play with and our girl trucks. My husband and I did not buy our children name-brand clothes. When I realized a man at my workplace who had the same job I did made more money than me I spoke up. I voted for the president who had a female as a running mate. I voted for the second woman president who ran, but she lost. I have written my share of letters to state senators asking them to pass agrarian reform here in the United States and to stop buying exports from countries that were made in sweatshops.

The world has gone through significant changes in my lifetime. In my 52 years, I have seen the standard of living change and the meaning of wealth in America become redefined. The Iraqi oil conflict has come to and end. Environmental issues have come to the forefront of American legislation as scientist realized the impact of the manner in which we were consuming resources. Global corporations have shifted the structure from geopolitics to geo-economics. Conflicts have arisen throughout my lifetime. The manner in which children are raised has changed. And --- I can say that I played a part.