Future difficult to see, but we try nevertheless

This is the time when lots of people make their predictions for the new year. It is no easy thing to look ahead a year, yet alone even further into the future.

I was reminded of that fact the other day when I came across a classic science fiction movie I had seen many years ago and decided to watch it again for kicks. It was “Soylent Green,” starring Charlton Heston and made in 1973. It depicted a period far in the future (2022) when it was made and still some years off even now.

It is one of those apocalyptic type science fiction movies — you know, the world is a terrible place to live and people are struggling to survive amidst an ecological disaster. I find it strange that these types of movies seem to be so popular, but they are.

Actually “Soylent Green” was probably ahead of its time because it seemed to be based on a version of global warming, something that still is being debated today.

Food had become so scarce that people were unknowingly eating other people. If you are a pessimist, I supposed you could say that could still happen since 2022 has yet to arrive, but I choose to disbelieve it. We are a remarkably adaptable species, even under very adverse conditions.

But even now, before we even get to 2022, you can see they didn't get a lot of the future right.

For example, they were still using land lines to make calls — no cell phones or other means of communicating. Hey, who knew?

They foresaw a time when no one printed books anymore, so they relied on older scholars to collect out-of-print books and research them — sort of like human encyclopedias. There was no Internet with endless ability to do research. Although the printed forms of books do appear to be growing less popular than in the past, books are not vanishing but in fact are seeing a renaissance in electronic reader form.

Then there was the “scooper” form of crowd control which is really too silly to spend time discussing. Check the movie out if you want a laugh.

Despite the obvious hazards of trying to see into the future, I have still decided to take a swing at a few predictions for this year.

• We will elect a president. Wow, that's an easy one. But I predict it will not settle our political divisions, no matter who wins. The reality is we seem to be a nation divided right now, without a common vision. I wish that was not the case, but for now it is, so the divisiveness that has marked our recent political history will continue.

• Similarly, we can look forward to more uproar over national health care, and for the same reasons. This will be the case despite a forthcoming 2012 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on Obamacare. Whichever way the ruling goes, the other side will be dissatisfied and want to carry on the fight. We need a solution for health care that makes it available and affordable for all Americans, but it probably won't happen until things get so bad that people are forced to come together.

• The economy will improve, although slower that many of us would like. We are already seeing many signs of that. But I think the Great Recession caused some fundamental shifts to which we will have to adapt, including a need for a different type of work force. This will be accelerated by the baby boomers, who have had major impacts on American society since they started to arrive after World War II, as they accelerate the move into retirement.

• Yuma will renew its growth trend in 2012 that was stymied by the economic downturn.

Terry Ross is director of the Yuma Sun's News and Information Center. Email: tross@yumasun.com. Telephone: 539-6870. Facebook: facebook.com/YSTerryRoss. Twitter: twitter.com/@YSTerryRoss.