Troubling Trends in 2022
The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Daan Joubert
During the past two years, events have changed the world. Probably the most glaring change is the way covid has resulted in major divisions among the people of many countries; these developed between sections of the population and against the way governments have changed to become more dictatorial and, in some, harshly suppressive.
Whether because of covid or because of an extended covid-like series of variants, the world is altered. Because of the balkanisation of many countries into three distinct power groups, it will not be easy to bring the different groupings together in unity again. Governments love the idea of effectively ruling by edict and more than just a show of force, which might have people who support the official policies maintain a distance from government. The third ‘force’ will continue to foster resistance to any policy they do not believe in or simply refuse to accept, unless they can be convinced that a policy and related action are actually needed; not by media blather or hype, but by hard facts and science.
That is, unless the situation deteriorates so much that governments implement the solution, popular in the 1930s, of putting dissenters into camps as the only practical way to maintain peace and order.
This speculation about the future attempts to generate a scenario that is plausible in terms of some of the trends that have developed during the past two years. Should the facts and actions that underlie these still developing trends change soon, the scenario will collapse. But so far, the lines between the three groups appear drawn in the sand. The rest of 2022 should be interesting while this remains so.