World Futures Fall 2021

Saudi Arabia announces it will be emission free by 2060 (notably the "how" is not in the detals. More and more countries are pledging zero emissions in the future, so the key will be whether they adhere to their promises or if these pledges are simply to follow along with tthe crowd now.

Article talks about the general increase in anger/unhappiness in the country today. More people seem to be upset with the way things are going and letting it be known. A lot of it seems resistance to change or feeling of helplessness as things change to from what was once familiar.

Interesting article in that it takes the perspective of the worker and the effects of climate change. It asks questions about getting to zero emissions and the effects of doing so. The call is for a smooth transition--one wth minimal disruption, and the idea is that people have a right to such a transition

Article about the less fortunate suffering at the hands of big business as climate crisis severly impacts the environments where people live. It talks about basic life support needs that are more difficult to come by as a result of climate change.

In October 2021 the UN passed a resolution recognising access to ahalthy and sustainable environment as a universal right. It talks about the history in getting to this point. In most cases, people are suffering due to no fault of their own. This is considered a start to motivate governments to take action

The Pew Research Center survey finds that publics offer mixed views about the use of robots to automate jobs. Across the 20 publics, a median of 48% say such automation has mostly been a good thing, while 42% say it has been a bad thing.

Research on technological change and innovation.

You wonder if it's the pandemic that is really the driver for people to seek companionship via virtual connections, or is it the start of a trend. The article talks about elderly people being taken advantage of in many of the cases. It also mentions that it's not just some rogue criminal but in some case organizations that are behind these scams.

"By analyzing #BlackLivesMatter tweets, we found three main strategies: empowerment, mobilization and reputational damage, all as part of an effort that social scientists call "social accountability...We were looking to see whether the people using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter were using any of three key elements of social accountability as they worked to call out the harm done by public institutions and to bring attention to police misconduct..."