Side A — The turning point
14 June 2040
The forecast is for 38 °C in Belgium, with little wind. The high-pressure system is expected to remain in place all week. The heatwave has persisted since the beginning of the month.
Working hours have been adjusted. Citizens on “orbi” service [1] limit their travel and use water with the sense of proportion everyone knows and practises: from students in the first stage of life to travellers on their second Erasmus [2], all the way to representatives in the World Parliament. Water levels in ponds within refuges and sanctuaries are checked and, in places, topped up. We know that thermodynamic inertia will persist until the end of the century.
Even so, morale remains good. CO₂ emissions are down to a quarter of their 2030 level. Measurements reported daily in the news, none of whose outlets belong to private interest groups any longer, show that climate disruption has stabilised and that the first signs of reversal will be felt from 2050. Likewise, observations in the sanctuaries and their corridors indicate that the decline in biodiversity has been halted and that the genetic diversity of many species is increasing.
Richer lives
Despite having to manage pronounced shortages and excesses, quality of life has improved considerably. The unification of humanity has ended the race for growth, the extractive competition between peoples and regions of the world, and the pressures it placed on resources.
As ethnic conflicts and xenophobia fall sharply, education values productive trades as much as artistic activities and those that strengthen social cohesion. Periods of education alternate throughout life, allowing intellectual and manual learning and experience to complement one another. Everyone is encouraged to try a range of civic and professional experiences, to enrich their lives and better understand different realities.
Technical and technological choices are assessed systematically, not to gain a competitive edge but to free up time for living and active citizenship. These advances are guided by the principles of robustness and sufficiency. These make it possible, for example, to determine how much clothing, data or electricity a person and the system around them need to flourish in a given place and at a given time. They give renewed prominence to education and human interaction.
Far from communism, entrepreneurship and personal fulfilment remain strong values. A wealth ceiling equivalent to 25 million old euros is still within reach, although the ways of building that wealth now take account of what is essential, noble, beautiful and emancipatory, alongside or instead of marketing success alone.
This measure, which will be lifted in 2100, also applies to those whose fortunes exceeded that amount in the old world. Every human being is on board the same boat. Since the wealthiest stand to lose the most, allowing them to retain wealth up to a threshold, in compensation for the more or less voluntary donation of the excess to fund the initial shift, seems an acceptable compromise. Wealth, past or present, nevertheless exempts no one from the 16/8 arrangement.
Tools serving the human project
No return to the caves—quite the opposite. Artificial intelligence facilitates simulations of worlds in ecological and social balance by combining numerous physical, chemical, biological, demographic, sociological and psychological parameters. This tool supports debate and the search for consensus among human representatives; it never replaces them. Its use is strictly confined to research and simulation activities commissioned through clear, public specifications.
Social isolation, the technologically mediated distancing that produced the tech billionaires, and the dangers their dehumanised meteoric rise posed to humanity are understood as a lesson from our recent history. They are studied alongside the “human bugs” of accumulating wealth and power when the socioeconomic and media environment is as favourable to them as it was then.
Education continues through at least two further periods of learning after secondary school and, for those who undertake it, higher education. It gives substantial attention to sociological mechanisms and the forces behind polarisation. Stupidity and a certain form of intellectual and moral laziness, repeatedly exploited throughout the history of peoples to “lead the calves to slaughter”, are regarded as a denial of our humanity and one of its greatest dangers.
Global flows have diminished. The “consumerist, novelty-hungry” frenzy that once exhausted people and resources has disappeared. The colossal investments and debts devoted to speeding up the logistics of continuous production and consumption cycles have become obsolete. The channels that sustained this excitement, until so recently, are now studied in the modern anthropology curriculum shared by the whole of society.
Unsurprisingly, less frantic activity makes the exchanges that remain run more smoothly. Cities and motorways see little congestion. Many warehouses have been repurposed for strategic storage, where they have not been dismantled.
Growth is no more. The economy, useful an invention though it may be, has been brought back within a set of limits and rules over which the human project retains control. That project now values curiosity and knowledge.
Fatima, a temporary representative
At the broadest level, the world is governed through the choices of some 8,500 representatives—one person per million inhabitants—selected by lot from among those who meet the required conditions.
In this context, as unprecedented as it is innovative in human history, Fatima, a forty-four-year-old Moroccan bioengineer, has seven years of experience at a microbiome research centre and three years as a carpenter, including two as an apprentice [3]. She has also successfully completed the year-long Constellation course [4] through evening classes, shortly after returning from the first of her three possible journeys around the world, each lasting two years.
Travelling by train, bicycle and sailing boat, and managing her “CO₂ travel” allowance, she was able to appreciate the welcome offered by local people. Everyone is eager to share their cultures and traditions, knowing that a similar welcome awaits them should they choose, in turn, to set off.
Having met every condition for inclusion in the pool of eligible people, Fatima joined some thirty-nine of her compatriots in the latest Parliament “of the 8,500”, selected by lot in 2039.
For the next four years, she leaves Jean, her husband, whom she met in Liège on her first journey around the world, to care for their child. An only child, in accordance with the rule set until the end of the century by the previous Parliament, known as the Parliament “of the 8,700”.
During her service, she lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, home to the world's parliamentary and executive city. This region, regarded as one of the cradles of humanity and directly exposed to climate disruption, was chosen to host representatives during their single term of office.
Her duties take up roughly twice the statutory working time: forty hours a week spent learning, exchanging views and voting. When she leaves office, she and Jean will receive eight years of exemption, to use as they see fit. Free, like everyone else, to do nothing, she will probably follow the path taken by some 78% of former representatives, who pass on their experience and return to local activities or nature conservation after so many years away from their roots.
Like Fatima, most people from countries that remain habitable have chosen to return to their roots, while taking time to travel, discover, and encounter people and nature at a slower pace. A life limited in resources and possessions, but unlimited in discovery and knowledge: two keystones of the new world constitution, which she countersigned two months ago.
This constitution, whose framework of limits associated with the Constellation cannot be called into question, nevertheless leaves room for a comprehensive revision every five years. That revision takes account of the biochemical and sociopsychological parameters incorporated into the current governance cycle, after they have been critically examined, weighted and validated.
How the shift happened
In the evening, Fatima recalls the fervour she felt when the Moroccan party GENZ212 embraced this charter for world unification, founded solely on the principles of the Constellation and on executive power entrusted to qualified representatives of the human population.
Initially ridiculed, the proposal was quickly taken up by progressive leaders in many countries. It offered an alternative to populist threats and to compromises with traditional parties unable to break with the deadly race of the consumer economy, for fear of jeopardising their positions within their parties and their political careers.
Across all walks of life and beyond political allegiances, the Constellation spread through modern communication tools, with support from a number of wealthy individuals and celebrities. Aware that their status would not protect their future, still less that of their descendants, they mobilised their resources and networks to lend credibility to this momentum and amplify it.
Everywhere, investigations examine the abuses of governance during the final decades of unbridled capitalism that had turned illiberal. Trials of a “Nuremberg 2” kind are taking place, and penalties are being imposed. This is not about revenge, but about affirming a restored justice.
Notes to Side A
[1] Work and local service. As a general rule, the arrangement provides for the equivalent of sixteen hours a week in conventional work and eight hours within the local social fabric, a service known as “urbi”. It applies for thirty years spread between the ages of twenty and sixty.
[2] The three passports to the world. Over a lifetime, each person has three “passports to the world”, or Erasmus 1, 2 and 3, during which they can explore places near and far at a slow pace. Wherever they go, an “urbi” activity equivalent to eight hours a week is required, so that they can discover the local fabric of the place where they live or are passing through. A certificate confirming that they have read about its history, customs and local and general characteristics is also required.
[3] Access to representative responsibilities. Two substantial periods of experience of at least three years each, one manual and the other intellectual, together with passing the examination linked to the Constellation course, have become essential conditions for taking on responsibilities as a representative of the people. This framework connects planetary boundaries, the conditions of human dignity, and psychological and sociological dimensions over time.
[4] The Constellation: a four-dimensional framework. The Constellation is the conceptual framework proposed by RESET 2050, inspired by Kate Raworth's economic Doughnut and its relationship between a social foundation and an ecological ceiling. It organises reflection around three dimensions—planetary boundaries, the minimum conditions for human dignity, and the psychological dimension of individuals and sociological dimension of societies—to which a fourth is added: time. The idea is to consider together what the planet can sustain, what everyone must be able to experience in life, what fosters flourishing and cooperation, and how these balances evolve across lives and generations. The spiral represents the individual journey; the constellation connects these journeys within a shared horizon. These four dimensions are lenses for interpretation, not four physical quantities or an already validated mathematical model. This extension still needs to be clarified and tested; it is not attributed to Kate Raworth. The Doughnut already includes social dimensions and monitoring over time: RESET 2050 proposes to make psychological and sociological trajectories more explicit, without claiming to introduce them into a framework that lacks them. Source: Kate Raworth’s Doughnut / DEAL.
In summary
- A narrative of global convergence reaches as many people as possible and is taken up by as many national parties as possible. They declare their intention to organise global politics embodied no longer by a single figure or party, but by representation at a rate of one person per million inhabitants. Representatives serve a single term, within fixed causal limits.
- Planetary boundaries, human dignity and the living world form the framework for all development policy.
- Legislative and executive organisation is governed by the principles of the Constellation and causality: what takes precedence over what, with weighting that accounts for orders of magnitude.
- Popular representation at the global level rests on a single term of office and specific eligibility criteria.
- Politicians and national parties from the preceding two decades are audited, with possible sanctions for racist or ecocidal acts, abuses of power, conflicts of interest or deliberate polarisation.
- Long- and medium-term policies combine the principle of causality with an obligation to address causes rather than effects alone.
- The media apply the principle of causality in their reporting. Their governance is tied to the people's representatives currently in office.
- Occupations, education and civic commitments alternate throughout life.
- World unification goes hand in hand with promoting narratives, languages and traditions, both past and present, through an anthropological and sociological approach.
- Projections looking one hundred, fifty, twenty, ten and five years ahead are revised using indicators related to the Constellation framework and ranked according to their causal connections.
- The economy and technology are tools, not ends in themselves. They serve a higher project of human development and preservation of the living world, as well as of the Anthropocene.*
- Alternating “urbi and orbi” work with time for loved ones, nature and oneself offers the best guarantee of rich, balanced individual and collective lives: fertile ground for lasting, desirable human development.
Editorial note: the phrase “preservation of the Anthropocene” is retained at this stage, but its intended meaning needs to be clarified with the author.
Side B — Inertia
The voice that follows is that of a fictional propaganda speech. Its brutality, racism and prejudices are portrayed in order to condemn them. Events attributed to real public figures are imaginary.
14 June 2040
The forecast is for 44 °C in Belgium, with little wind. The high-pressure system is expected to remain in place all week. While the heatwave has persisted since the beginning of the month, more bodies are being found beneath the mudslide caused by three days of rain: more than 550 mm fell without warning in several parts of the Vesdre valley.
No national mourning is planned. The Bouchez IV government considers that living on a valley floor carries a risk for which those who chose to live there must take responsibility. Since no budget has been allocated for the clean-up, residents are invited to carry out the searches in their spare time, in whatever way they consider most appropriate.
All is for the best
Meanwhile, we are told that troop morale on the Moroccan front remains good. Our advance through the desert has secured vast photovoltaic installations connected to the continent, particularly to the new data centres in Cádiz. Casablanca is more beautiful than ever since the souk was incorporated into air-conditioned market halls. Their inauguration by Lauren Sánchez and Antoine Arnault unveiled their new exclusive boutique for enthusiasts of traditional yachts.
Although the weather has seemed temperamental for a few years, the American government announces further exceptional harvests in Antarctica. The sixth continent, now the country's fifty-fifth state, had until then been left abandoned. It is now being put to the best possible use. As the ice and snow retreat, a new gold mine and a gas deposit have been discovered. Both will be exploited by “Optimus super AI” robots, the new start-up of Elon Musk's eighth son.
Once processed, agricultural output from the “white continent” keeps food-basket inflation below 5%. A long, long way from the 200% experienced by Indians. With its population down from 1.3 billion to 700 million, this country of unsanitary customs is beset by internal conflict, endless wars with China and Pakistan and, apparently, somewhat elevated temperatures. All things considered, this third-rate state, which dreamed of being the equal of the great powers, should probably have thought twice before biting the hand of its former British protector.
While the merit that paved the way for the world's fortunes is celebrated from primary school onwards—for those who can afford and wish to attend—technical and technological choices are assessed systematically to gain a competitive edge. These advances, guided by the principles of pole position, enshrine the idea that the end justifies the means.
The spectacle of success
Far from socialism, personal achievement remains a strong value, alongside family and bearing arms. Information is free and everywhere. More than 1,200 television channels, social networks and on-demand services belong to the five billionaires who ensure that they operate as profitably as they do entertainingly. They celebrate heroism, bravery, entrepreneurship and showmanship. MMA championships and homemaking series are huge hits!
In politics, Europe has finally decided to follow the example of its inspiring American cousin: it appoints the finest individuals our societies have produced to guide us towards success. One must therefore possess at least 100 million euros to qualify for a place in government. Elections have mostly been abolished: no one wants to hear whiners and other envious “inverts” obstructing the ascent to new heights of a humanity whose destiny is to conquer and possess.
No return to the caves, of course! Artificial superintelligence, combined with human implants, facilitates high-frequency trading while allowing people to stay connected to their children's school. The latest version of the “dreamfast” chip also allows the cortex to experience the pleasure of heroin, without resorting to the barbaric injections once sold by migrant gangs roaming American streets in search of easy prey!
In this context of total economic success, we remember how wokeism and its communist undertones almost broke the momentum of growth, freedom and technological advances in the late 2030s. While an MMA fight between a robot and the strongest man in the world is scheduled on the Moon, space residences are multiplying for the elite. Watching sunrises and sunsets from the only place worth being—infinity—now that is the new sign of success!
Fatima
In this context marking the pinnacle of the white race, Fatima, a forty-four-year-old Moroccan woman, has seven years of experience as a domestic cleaner for colonists who cannot afford a household robot.
She has just received permission to live in a warehouse Amazon built in record time to help converted Moroccans, renouncing their Berber allegiance, live together in an air-conditioned building. This clear improvement in sanitary conditions and rationalisation earned Jeff his third Nobel Peace Prize.
Fatima works six days a week, ten hours a day. A small burden for the privilege of emancipating herself alongside the great. Of course, she will have neither the time nor the right to have children.
No one talks about what tomorrow will look like. And with good reason: tomorrow, like today, will be made for and by the bold!