What the F*%# Just Happened? A look back and a look forward.

Hello Everyone

I trust you all had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukah/Joyous Kwanza/Happy New Year/Pretty Good Winter Solstice, etc.

The last decade has been a good one; we saw the rise of the reality show, Disney strengthened its strangle-hold on the music industry, and one of the worst recessions since the great depression. Ok maybe it hasn’t been THAT good. If you are a technology buff like I am, it was pretty good though. We saw the world move in a way that struck fear in the hearts of our grandparents, but then got them playing FarmVille. Remember back to the 2000s, FaceBook, Youtube, Twitter, Wikipedia, Google, and so many of the other websites you frequent (Ok maybe not all the websites you frequent, but I don’t want to hear about those) came in the latter part of the 2000s. With that we have seen a change in how we do things. Journalism is being taken over by blogging, almost all of the world’s collective knowledge is now on the internet, and Apple changed the music industry.

So what’s in store for the ‘10s (I don’t know if that’ll catch on but if it does, I claim coinage rights)? Well in the near future we are looking at an interesting time in Albertan politics, the Wild Rose alliance is gaining ground (and MLAs), and Renew Alberta has started, in hopes of uniting the provinces “Progressives”. We have seen, albeit in sporadically, pushes for more sustainable economic policy, and a drive towards greener living. We will hopefully get out of this recession with minimal unsolicited back-handings from the free markets invisible hand.

On the education front we will see a greater move towards online learning (for better or for worse, I don’t know). We will see niche careers pushing people into unusual majors and the world will be more networked allowing for greater collaboration.

Now I need you to roll with me on this as it may sound a little hippyish. The world will also need to become more sustainable, and not just because of global warming, but because humans are wasting themselves into trouble. I’m not so worried for the earth, she’s a big girl and can handle her own, but we aren’t so resilient.

What else will go down in the ‘10s? I am not sure, nor am I really sure about anything I just wrote...but it sounds good to me, and that’s like half the battle right?

Well from Hillary Duff, to recessions,  9/11, and Facebooking Grandma’s, 2000’s it’s been an interesting one, one that has surely left a lot of us looking back and wondering what the F*%# Just Happened?