Abstract
Even among futurists, traditions change. By tradition, the World Future Society always produced a special volume of futures-related essays in connection with our annual conference. But experience has shown that a hefty book was cumbersome to carry home, expensive to mail, and sometimes overlooked entirely. Sadly, good ideas can get lost when too many of them appear all together at one time.
So last year, we began a new tradition: making the “conference volume” part and parcel of our quarterly journal World Future Review (WFR). The articles in this special issue reach not only our regular WFR subscribers around the world but also everyone who attends our annual meeting.
There are nine articles in this year’s issue, and they all deal with topics directly relevant to issues that will be addressed in sessions at the Chicago conference. At the same time, they deserve attention by everyone involved in the long-term success of the futures enterprise—professional planners, consultants, government leaders, educators, and concerned citizens.
Questions addressed by our authors include, “Is the future obsolete?” (i.e., Have developments in science, technology, and social norms overtaken and outmoded our conception of what “progress” even means?), “Might a radical rethinking of traditional economics be enough to bring an end to history’s recurring cycles of excess and shortage?” and “Can ‘limits to longing’ make even an imperfect world worthwhile to protect and sustain?”
Dangers are there in plenty. Wild cards for starters—unlikely events that may never happen, but would have profound impacts on millions of lives if they did. Or, consider the more likely “uncertainties” posing threats that loom ever larger even as we debate their existence and postpone meaningful actions to avoid or prepare for them.
Yet, there is evidence of hope as well. The experience of China and America—arguably the two most influential nations on our planet today—suggests that each has proven techniques that the other can learn from to promote more efficient and healthier ways of life that can be maintained and enjoyed indefinitely.
I invite you to look through this issue quickly. If you are attending this year’s annual conference, take a copy with you to sessions and use the information and ideas it offers to raise questions or support specific options. If you are reading at home or on the job, consider what the authors are saying and how you might make use of their words and concepts in what you do or the way you live. Words are only words until you put them into action.