Was peering into the crystal ball here, analyzing future trends. There are a lot of things that could potentially enter into the mainstream and totally upset, highly alter, or slightly modify the existing social structure/power base. A futurist I heard speak said that analyzing such trends has become much more difficult than in the past, and to that I agree.
Dig- in the olde days, say during the heyday of the Sioux tribe, the people of that tribe had few possessions because they were driven by the need to source food and their main food source (bison) was mobile. The method of moving from place to place was by tribe members toting gear and by dogs pulling contraptions called ‘travois’ upon which gear was tied (crude but effective). The introduction of the horse changed everything, so much so that the concept of wealth was introduced, something they hadn't known much of before. Horses could carry a lot more stuff, so why not accumulate more than Just Enough?
Compared to those days, only a hundred and fifty years ago, we have tremendous wealth. Food is readily available, we are protected from the elements (most of us), we live in much more permanent dwellings, we're only mobile if we want to be, we're much ‘better’ educated as to what's going on in the rest of the world (but have lost touch with the natural world), it's been quite a ride. However, much more is coming, and like the Sioux, our way of living might drastically change- or it might not. Either way, adjustments will have to be made.
So many variables could surface that their effects cannot possibly be calculated because these variables will play off of one another. Possible variables on the horizon are: Free energy, decentralized banking (cryptocurrency), cloning, ‘designer babies’ whose genes are selectively edited, drone travel, driverless cars, nanotechnology, virtual reality, A. I. and its assorted applications, and a whole lot more. These game changers call for continuous and imaginative problem solving.
Some givens are that governments are slow to catch up as the private sector is usually the one to introduce new technologies and systems, wealthy or connected people always have first access, and First world countries rapidly adopt new systems while Third world countries lag behind. This has been happening, and is obviously happening now, but the pace could accelerate even more.
Twenty First Century,
Year Nineteen.
Free energy could create communities where none have existed before. Cities could be built in the middle of deserts, or in frigid climates inhospitable to man. Life on ships at sea could be commonplace.
The need for people to work could be substantially less and governing forces would be faced with the prospect of a citizenry with loads of free time on their hands, something that has never happened in history.
The race might mutate into something different. Physical forms might decrease in vitality and mental abilities might grow more predominant as the focus shifts from doing physical tasks in order to survive to searching for new and satisfying reasons for being.
Sexual orientation could shift towards the unthinkable- androgyny. Pansexual and transgender people are already surfacing in some areas. Sex robots- as well as military ones- are currently under development (no surprise there).
Existential questions could abound. Religion would be tasked to answer those, as well as psychologists and spiritualists. The world's problems could actually be on their way to being solved and a race devoted to drama could find itself living in peace and cooperation.
People might not leave their houses or properties for the duration of their lives, if they so chose, while other people might travel full time and never know of 'home base'.
Countries would find their identities blurring across borders as a newly minted gypsy class would follow the seasons, their various interests, and/or the festival circuit.
Vast swaths of land would be freed from human control due to decreases in industry and ranching. Communal living could take place, for those who chose it, severely affecting the hallowed single family home market and all that depends on it. Municipalities would shrink, or grow, depending not on jobs but on 'Desirable Living Indexes'.
The need for and associated expense of militaries around the world would vanish for in an egalitarian world, what would need defending?
So much could potentially happen, and a lot of this stuff is not so far off as to say it's pure fantasy. Progress could, as it is now, be slowed by political means and as a way of preserving power but how long can progress be kept at bay? Indefinitely? Methinks not.
Who can accurately forecast all of this? What country or business has the ability to think-tank these things, or better still, play-act them in controlled arenas before unleashing their new products, technologies, or systems upon the general public?
If the current climate is any indication, the exact opposite occurs! New technologies emerge, then pounce upon and trounce the existing ones. Growth and market share are goals to be captured at any cost and only well down the road, after any potential competition has been vanquished, can the effect of variables upon that which was in place before be calculated. But the variables, once introduced, constantly alter, mutate, and create spin offs. Governments step in occasionally to act as containment, while the powerful seek to funnel things their way, and forward we go, albeit hobbled by one rein or perhaps many on galloping Progress.
So the conclusion is "Who knows what is going to occur?" There are so many potentials out there right now it's hard to keep up on all of them. I’m not that much interested in being androgynous, or becoming physically frail, and some of those other things, which could be well off into the future, but some technologies or societal changes are already here or are soon to be. ‘Hope for the best and deal with the rest’ many of us will, while some will actively intend and throw their wills into the mix that way. Inevitably, things will play out, and we’ll all be left at the end of 2019 saying "Now well, wasn't that interesting?!"