The World in 2075In this class we have been interested in two interrelated questions. 1) Is capitalism sustainable? and 2) Can capitalism be environmentally sustainable?One of the reasons that we have been studying so much history in this class is that I think understanding the past is helpful for thinking about the future. For this assignment I want you to do just that and tell me what the future of capitalism (or not) looks like.For the first half of the assignment (500 words) I want you to describe what the future looks like 50+ years from now, when most of you will be in your 70s. How you approach this part of the assignment is up to you. It may be helpful to either describe in detail the day to day activities of a future place or to provide an overview of what you think the future looks like for a particular country. For this section I want you
to think about all of the questions that have been raised this term about the future, such as technology, climate change, pollution, education, regulation, justice, inequality, growth, creative destruction, food, human nature, efficiency thinking, freedom, labor, population and natural resources, etc., and consider how they factor in to your future world.For the second half of the assignment (500 words) I want you to tell me why you think the world will look like what you described above. For this section it may again be helpful to think through all of the topics we have been covering in class and explain how your understanding of capitalism today informs your thinking about the future. While there is no need to cite anything, to receive full point for the assignment, you must engage with the class readings and discussion topics in a meaningful way.