For a guy that considers himself a futurist, I barely ever talk about the future on my blog. Well, I guess if you consider crypto the future like I do, then maybe I have been talking about the future all along. But based on current and ongoing events, I'm gonna talk about THE WORLD OF TOMORROW!

Our Primary Motivation For This Adventure Into My Crystal Balls.

Okay, so the COVID-19 outbreak has been seriously challenging for everyone. People all over the world are locked down, they are socially distancing, and they are trying to carry on with work and general survival despite all the bullshit going on right now. It's amazing how much things have changed, and if I were to walk outside my rural North Texas home, things feel... strangely calm regardless. There are a few things that as a result, I think will end up changing for the (potentially) better.

This Will Affect Our Culture and Our Children's Culture.

My son is six years old, and like any proper parent, I worry the shit out of him. He's basically my lifeline to this world and without him, I'd be in the shitter or worse. He is currently out of school because the schools have shut down and probably will stay that way until April. That's not really a lot of time, but for a six year old kid, that's like 3 months. He is confused because he doesn't really understand the gravity of what's going on out there in the world. When he looks back at this time 12 years from now, he will remember that time when he didn't have to go to school for a bit, and will be like, "oh yeah, that was during the coronavirus". That's how people of his generation will view it. Doubtlessly, since we have upticked our casual cleanliness as I imagine many are doing, and he will definitely be more health conscious in the future. I think this will instill some really interesting habits among our kids, and even things such as social distancing may have a long term impact on how they interact with others.

The world is no longer a thing of visible macro scale threats. The threats are now invisible, and honestly, this was bound to happen and yet nobody really gets it until it happens. This will affect us, and it will affect our social norms in ways we never thought possible. My first prediction (highlighted in bold for your convenience and so you can tell me in two years how incredibly wrong I was): Handshaking will fall out of Vogue in The USA. It's hard to imagine such a thing happening here in Texas; A handshake is this "first Impression" here; if you get weak ass flaccid penis handshake from a person, it is almost conveys a lack of trust. You gotta hit that shit like you would hit an unruly prostitute; Nice and Firm. Keep that hand Strong and look that motherfucker in the eyes. I've shaken exactly TWO hands since the outbreak; the very fact that I can tell you this number tells you that it ain't very common right now.

Ultimately, this may mean that a time honored tradition of greeting might be thrown to the wayside, and people have to find other ways to give a trustworthy first impression. Trust will be harder won than it was before.

The Panic Has Shown Us the Value of Decentralization.

Ah, the good ol' staple of Magic Internet Money. The distributed ledger has demonstrated to many of us that spreading the risk around has some really good positive effects. But why stop with money? Why not carry on with our decentralization, to where it includes several facets of our lives? Food, Energy, Shelter, Transportation, handjobs, all of these things benefit from having a localized, distributed infrastructure. It's easy to see why. Consider for a moment; where do most of you get your food? We get it from the grocery store. The Grocery store gets it from their distribution centers. The Distribution centers get it from growers and manufacturers, which could be anywhere from 50 miles away to thousands of miles away (think China... you're about to see where I'm going with this).

Basically, everything we need to survive is based on getting it from a central source. If that central source or supply chain breaks down, you're up the creek, full flaps and making rat burgers for Stallone. Outta toilet paper? Well strap in, sweetie, because you're gonna need to figure out the 3 seashells.

I Freaking Loved This Movie, and My Future Home will have the same layout.

There is a need to figure out a way for people to get basically everything they need in relative abundance within say, 5 to 10 miles of their home. Solar panels and renewables will work wonders for electricity. Innovations in farming and such could bring in a new era of local growers. But there is a tradeoff; the more sophisticated a product or service gets, the more specialized the things necessary to make them possible become. For example, a smartphone has about 75 chemical elements required to make it. Guess what? You're gonna have a hard time surfing Facebook if you don't have a cobalt mine nearby. Not only that, but things like microprocessors and smart glass require special manufacturing processes and equipment that you're gonna have a hard time finding at your local Radio Shack. Even more so, because they're outta business. So the idea is clear; maximize decentralization in all areas you can. Surprisingly, we already did this with the number one most important resource a person can have; information. Nobody goes to their local porno store to buy the latest edition of Leg Show anymore, and there's a REALLY, REALLY good reason why; Why spend the time and resources going to a central source when you can just grab your dick and double click? Easy. For the things that are not so easily decentralized, supply chains and logistics needs to expand, and one way to do that is through the use of automation, recycling and... Asteroid mining. Yeah, that's right. If you're gonna go far away to get a resource, you might as well get a metric shitton of it. The more you can get, the more you can put into the economy; people can have stores of the requisite stuff in case it is needed. Better to make one big trip and have extra, than doing a bunch of short order trips to some blood mine in Africa.

That's also interesting economically; consider for a moment that there is an asteroid with more gold than you can shake your willy at. Say you were able to mine a substantial portion of that in big loads over time. Suddenly, you have yourself an overload of gold. More than you could ever need. Ever. Do you know what that would do to the price of gold? Imagine buying a roll of pure gold wire for 15 bucks at your local hardware store. That would be insane.

Other interesting innovations like we see with 3D printing and AI could provide us with what we need to manufacture complex things locally. That would be an exciting prospect. While I don't think things like the Star Trek Synthesizer will be possible anytime soon (if at all), we can have a way of living that makes it easy to get basically whatever you want or need within your local area. Oh no, your phone broke? No problem, the local synthesis node will crap one out for you in an hour for the low price of like, 50 bucks. Will That be Bitcoin or Ethereum?

That's another thing too; this type of infrastructure makes access and procurement SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper over the long run. Basically you can get to what some people call a post-scarcity civilization. Now, I don't personally endorse the term "post-scarcity" simply because scarcity will always be a thing in a universe where there are finite resources. However, a civilization that asymptotically approaches post-scarcity could certainly happen.

And that's my prediction here: This Current Crisis and Panic will Be a Shifting Point in Getting People to Think About Where Their Shit Comes From, and Will Launch a Push Towards Decentralization of Crucial Resources.

On the other hand, people of different skills and talents are all over the world. Until AI catches up, that is not something that is so easily decentralized either. Unless...

Social Distancing and Isolation Will Spur Innovations in Telepresence and Remote Applications.

Now, this has been a thing in the works for years and years. There is no doubt in my mind - pandemic or not - that this type of technology will gradually get better and better. It's just too useful! That being said, I think people really appreciate being able to work from home and have their kids learn stuff from teachers through a tablet or computer. Hell, even accredited institutions like Western Governors University have taken the reigns of telepresence and make it possible to earn a bachelors degree 100% online! We might see an upcoming age where traditional brick and mortar schools become slightly less relevant than they have been, and this will be pushed even more by current events. If you work in an office on a computer, you can likely perform most if not all your job functions from the comfort of your own home. The Gig Economy will BLAST OFF like we have never seen before. Of course, if people are commuting through cyberspace, they are also probably using a lot of digital services to get what they need. This is a great thing for Cryptocurrency...

Crypto Will Blast OFF.

And that's probably one of the biggest things I see happening; Cryptocurrency Will See Mass Adoption. With the upcoming BTC halving event and crypto becoming more relevant in the public eye, the asset class will reach full maturity and things are not gonna be like they ever have been before. These things open up new opportunities for people. They make obtaining an income not only more accessible, but also more abundant. What the hell am I doing here? I'm earning money by talking to you guys! It's an amazing thing, and we will definitely see more of this in the future as the pandemic goes on and eventually becomes a memory.

"But Ginger Man, how can you SAY THAT? Crypto Dropped sharply after the Outbreak! Are you KIDDING?"

You're looking at the world as it is, and how people react to change. In this hypothetical world, not only will outbreaks become fewer and more contained, but people won't panic as much as a result. The Coronavirus is the trigger to get to that world, mark my words.

Until that happens, think about what I have written. You can be a part of that change. With your action and creativity our "new normal" will the Darkest Twilight before dawn. There's still hope in the world, folks. Our minds will get us there.

Thank you once again SO SO much for reading, I really appreciate it. I know these are hard times, keep calm and carry on folks. OH, and BTW...

SHILL of the WEEK!

Okay, so I signed up to be an affiliate with Amazon Associates. I know, I know, whatever right? Well it's a pretty simple thing, All I really gotta do is tell you about a product I have used or otherwise know about, and BOOM! If you like it, buy it! If you don't, Well, just click on it anyway. If you do that, I'll get a commission from whatever you buy from Amazon for 24 hours!

TODAY, I'm talking about THIS GUY:

This bad boy is a device you can use to store the mnemonic phrase to you Bitcoin/AltCoin Wallet securely and safely. Comes with little tiny stamps that you can use to stamp the phrases into the metal (That's just freaking awesome) and it has a tamper evident seal. Cold Storage with a Vengeance.

Store your shit long term and safely. At The Very Least, Check This Shit Out On Amazon, It is A Legitimately Cool Low Tech Solution To High Tech Magic Internet Money. And, your shopping will help me carry on my own projects moving forward and allow me to keep on bringing on the goods!

Until next time, keep your eye on the markets, stay healthy, and Justin Sun Gargles Mayonnaise for a Living. The future is closer than you think.