From Money Magazine

Money Magazine, August 2008, Page 127

On April 15, 2018, Johnny Behave wakes up feeling pleased with himself.  His tax return was filed weeks ago, thanks to the IRS’ Insta-File service, which e-mailed him a completed form for his approval.  one click and his taxes were done.  He has no worries about having enough money for his kids’ college or his own retirement because his employer’s Save-a-Bundle plan automatically suctions money from his paycheck and hikes the withdrawal rate as his salary rises.  Once a year, Behave’s cable company, cell-phone provider and credit-card issuer send him a summary of what he watched, whom he called and what he bought; for a modest fee, a service checks those reports to see if he’s getting the best deal.  To top it off, his gas si free.  The government grants every American family a 30-gallon monthly allowance.  But if the Behave family uses more, they pay $20 a gallon.  They rarely have to pay.

Johnny Behave knows that his new world can be annoying.  Between his daughter spending hours on Mynextspace and his son jumping around in front of Wii 3, the energy warning light on the exterior of his house, plain for all the world to see, is always glowing red.  And because his scale reported he was over weight, his fridge has placed him on a healthy eating regimen, starting last Sunday, so he’s stuck with fat-free yogurt this morning, even though he really wanted bacon.  When he heads off to work in his SUV, he must sport a “Please Honk.  I pollute.” pumper sticker.  Still, as beeping horns follow him down the highway, Behave has to admit that the air is clearner, his finances are sounder and his life is, yes, just a little longer.

Just thought I’d share Money Magazine’s vision of what the future is going to look like in a mere ten years!

@LT04:

What country is “Money Magazine” based out of? I might consider leaving my US home and going there.  :lol:  :roll:

LT

It’s a magazine published in the United States.  Generally has some really good financial advice.  Also, it is renown for it’s “best places to live” report each year.

I just thought it interesting where they thought the nation was headed.  A little too controlled for me, I’d prefer to live on a small farm, sell my hobby wares (I like to paint miniatures and I make native American replica art and some small furniture pieces, etc) to supplement my food supply and income with absolutely no government at all.

But that’s just me.

Not my plan, it’s from Money Magazine. :P

Anyway, the “penalty lights” (red lights that flash on your home if you use too much energy) would probably be mandated to be installed by home owners or land lords, not by the power companies.  One would probably install it next to a front porch light or some thing.

The internet things are pretty much here already.  There’s at least one service (local though) that will take your monthly invoices, pay them for you, and send you ticklers (email notes) when you are wasting money or could be saving more in your investments/accounts.  And we know the plan’s in place to auto-debit your pay checks so those are not unthinkable.

Just imagine how fast our lives can be automated for us, relieving from us the need to even think about ourselves!  Put your finger on a touch pad, it pricks it, analyzes your blood, takes your blood pressure, runs your numbers against a standard chart and determines what your diet is for the next week!

I don’t know if I should be proud of our technological achievements, or violently ill to my stomach.

I think the auto-spending feature is more akin to machines telling you what you will buy and how much you will buy and less of you just picking stuff up on the spur of the moment.  This should, in theory, dictate you to have good spending habits.  In reality, I worry it would turn into machines running our lives based on charts and formulas with no emotion what-so-ever in the decisions.

For instance, running a blood pressure, blood screen and maybe urinalysis each week just to get food. (All resorts reported back to the government for disease tracking of course.)  Where’s your privacy there?  What if you don’t like Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt?  What if you really, REALLY have a desire for a half-pound, double steak and cheese bacon burger and a large chocolate milk shake?

Or, how about a machine that tells you that you have to live in a one bedroom apartment because your children moved out of your home and there are three families who could better use your 3 bedroom house?  What if you really like the freedom to do what you want in your home or like the location of your home?

Or, how about that 30 gallon a month limit on fuel?  We will not have a mass transit system that can take the loads off our highways by then (not to get into politics, but the government just does not move that fast, neither do construction crews.)  What if your job is an hour drive (about 40 miles) west and your wife/husband works an hour drive (about 40 miles) east?  Neither location near a train stop, but both jobs are needed to pay the bills that are automated for you!

I guess the part that makes me ill is that machines cannot possibly substitute for human emotion and intelligence.  They may be really efficient and make great choices to minimize waste and maximize utilization, but no one plan can possibly work for all families/individuals.

The part I do like is not having to go to the grocery store anymore, or the post office, or any other errand since it’s automated. (Though, the IRS part kinda freaks me a bit.  The IRS, or TheIRS.  They have what it takes to take what you have.)

Oh, I think one might be pretty amazed how short the public’s attention span is when it comes to these things.  However, I don’t think the ATM would be handling the loan requests, but you may fill out a form online, send in a PDF of your W-2 and be done with it.