Happy New World

An anxious anticipation filled the room as the clock moved closer to midnight. So much has changed in just twenty-five years. We were all so young and naïve. No person in the room likely expected the turbulence that would lead us to where we are today. 

Scientists predicted the planet's existential problems would peak, and they were right. By 2040, just ten years ago, Miami was in a constant state of flooding. Sea level rise from arctic melt-off created billions in damages. It wasn't just a problem for us but for the world. 

In 2040, the entire world had to accept one fact. The biggest existential threat of the last thirty years was shortsightedness. When the world leaders finally took notice, everything began to change. 

One man stood above the rest. He was a private businessman, political consultant, and icon. After changing the automotive industry with the first successful electronic vehicle company, Musk, who led the push to space exploration, became the world's first trillionaire.

It would ultimately be Elong Musk who challenged the scientific community to rise to the challenges climate change and sea level rise present to humanity. People are jealous by nature, and many people didn't like Musk. As a public figure, Musk seemed distant from the rest of the world. In 2041, he would prove that he had a vision for the world, which was desperately needed. 

By 2045, Musk's mitigation systems were deployed around the world. He leased them to governments with a contract for maintenance and upgrades. The coastal mitigation systems could withstand storm surges, holding back the rising waters until they receded. The system kept the coastal regions unscathed.

As we gather now, I look back to the last war. The conflicts in Gaza and the Russian war with Ukraine spun out of control during the first half of the 20s. In February of 2025, in a shocking turn of events, Vladimir Putin announced an end to three years of aggression, and days later, he and Ukrainian President Zelensky met at a peace summit and signed an official treaty. Whatever brought them to the table was a mystery, until it wasn't. 

When Israel and the Palestinians found common ground, it was different. They suddenly found themselves with a common problem. Something that the United States Congress and the military had failed to find an answer for. 

For years, they were called the Tic Tacs, and Pyramids. Radio chatter from civilian aircraft was telling. Declassified accounts of military encounters were more alarming. When the two mysterious and unidentified aerial phenomena appeared in the same Middle Eastern skies over Gaza, the leaders of both countries reminded their people that we were all one people sharing a world in a much more complicated universe than we understood. Both sides laid down their arms, meeting days later, and signed a treaty. 

As we approach the final moments of 2050, and what's been 20 years of an unknown peace that once eluded mankind, it's weird. There's still a military. In fact, each country has one. They're trained well and in joint operations. The world had somewhere along its harrowing road, become unified. Well, as unified as it could. 

The United Nations changed. And the new body had more power than the United Nations or the defunct World Health Organization. The newly formed body of representatives was known as the Earth's Defense Directorate. It was borrowed from a seventy's science fiction movie, but it made sense. 

Earth has come so far. People are beyond what we imagined they could become in the middle 2020s. Even now, looking at the divergent group surrounding me, I look back at the divided state we were in just 25 years ago. There was one big change that drove people to the fundamental changes that brought us here. 

When we started eliminating the wealth disparity between people the world changed almost overnight. In just five years, there were no property crimes. Things like envy didn't make sense anymore. People all had what they needed and were valued more by what they accomplished than by how much money they had in the bank. 

Wealth ceased to be the ultimate measure of success. There were still wealthy people, but if they were horrible people, they were limited by their social credit scores. In a world where the division between cultures had disappeared, the social credit score measured in China caught on worldwide. 

Sitting in the center of the room, watching the ones I love as they celebrate the coming stroke of midnight and the end of the first half of the 21st century, I wonder what the second half will be like. I consider where we are, the work since my 53rd birthday, and the success I've been fortunate to enjoy. Sure, it all started with a large lottery win. But that gave me the assets to build an immense fortune. Little did I know that the social credit score system would take over. 

Everybody in the room smiles as the servers take around glasses of champagne. The hosts serve both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options so that nobody is left out. I thank one of the young ladies as she offers me a glass. It's five minutes until midnight, and most guests move toward the front. 

As I watch the crowd moving to the front of the room, I decide to take my drink to the back and enjoy the view from the deck. The view is special. The trip should have cost a small fortune, but everybody on board was invited to the new colony. My son was an engineer. Both grandchildren were pilots. My brother was already assigned to the colony and had been there for a year. 

Somebody asks if I'm alright. It's my son. I watch the stars while we move closer to our destination, I hear the words echoing. 

"Three, two, one!" 

It's 2051, and I'm great. I'll soon turn 80, and through the perseverance of the human spirit, and my naturally stubborn insistence on winning, everything in the world is better than ever. 

"I couldn't be any better," I tell my boy. "Happy New Year, son."