Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Nicole, Deliah, Alex, Lois, Adam

Low technology & High community: Public Transit Hell

In a world in which technology has reached a plateau and the continuity amongst one another has accelerated, our new society would become a more pleaseant place. Despite the toils and strife of working hard with little technological advances to aid us, our pastimes will be filled with joy. Evening gatherings are commonplace and frequent social events have become the new status quo. Our sense of individualism, self-interest and greed has left our society and has been replaced by humility and selflessness. With the advent of camaraderie through our societal actualizations of self worth and the development of a socialistic government, we are an overall happy culture. Public transportation, such as buses, BART and railways expand, exceeding all expectations with improved, larger, and more desirable interiors which in turn increases community use. This become a more social and lively atmosphere for travelers and commuters. Carpooling and ride-sharing are the new norm. Despite living in a near utopia, the majority of our work force is more focused on manual labor due to the motionless state of technology. Education has become the exception as a mere 20 percent of the societies labor force is elevated to using their intellect in contrast to their backs.

Integrated Networks Quadrant for Team Intuition
The population of the United States exhibits stronger interdependent values. People are more committed to each others' well being, both in business and personal communications. Family members live closer to one another so they can help with responsibilities like childcare and eldercare, and neighbors are more helpful to each other as well. The physical and emotional health of the U.S. population improves due to this strengthening of interdependent social support systems. Pollution levels are low because electric vehicles are prevalent and green technology has replaced the coal-burning electric power plants in the United States. Most electricity is made with solar cells since technological advances have brought the cost down. Most homes have solar cell electric panels with systems for storing electricity and cars can be plugged in to wall sockets for charging. Through technological improvements in the process of ethanol production, many electric-hybrid cars can also run on clean-burning ethanol made from agricultural waste which had been burned in fields and orchards every year after harvest; this further reduces the level of particulate-matter air pollution. Robotics and electronic communication technologies have advanced to the level where vehicles can reliably communicate with each other in an integrated navigational network, creating a system of driverless cars and busses on our roadways. The factor of driver error is eliminated from vehicle operation and riding in personal automobiles or public transit becomes a safe form of transportation with no fatalities or injuries due to accidents.
Podville = individualistic & sufficient technology

Our society has evolved, yet devolved. Technological innovations have excelled and we, as a society, have grown very individualistic. Our standard acts are justified merely by our own aspirations for self wealth and living in a higher end of comfort than our forbearers, but also out of fear and self preservation. We care not for the benefit of each other, nor that of the community, only those whom are part of our
immediate family, and our personal circles.
Money is abundant due to high inflation which occurred from the collapse of the housing market. This act forced the federal reserve to lower interest rates, with hopes of allowing the hosing market to settle without having to foreclose a quarter of the middle class. This action had an adverse affect of forcing that middle class to live on credit instead, and eventually the housing market reached a negative plateau. People owed amounts nearing one-million for houses which were valued for less than half. Bankruptcies became commonplace, and owners of apartment complexes thrived, due to the high demand for immediate housing. From the failure of managing personal finances by investing in real estate instead of the societal infrastructure, selfishness and greed has endured. The ‘baby-boomer’ generation clings to the hope of retrieving social security, but do the a cutback in the labor force the age of initial withdrawal extended to sixty-six, forcing the elderly to continue to work and save. Our final financial strife is our added problem of imports. We continue to shop and support companies which outsource virtually all of the labor force which continued to degrade our fragile economical society. Sadly, even after we continue to purchase low quality items from these giants, our government then borrows moneys in the trillions from these same countries in order to continue the façade of self security.
Finances are not the only strife which we suffer upon. Despite how every other developed country has converted to a national healthcare system, Americans have become overly self-contained and scared of the risk of increase taxes in order to pay for a universal health care. This threat has forced our individualistic society to fear activities involving any risk of injury, which has also had the adverse affect on our society. Obesity and/or diabetes affects one in three over the age of forty, and forty percent of children under fifteen directly suffer as well. Not all is evil and wretched though, there are still highlights to this future society.
Despite the tough lives in which we live, technology is still soaring. California has become the technological capital of the world, and investors and venture capitalists from all over flock to Silicon Valley in order to finance new technologies. Due to the housing market collapsing, educated individuals from Germany, India, China, Korea and other prosperous countries are coming to the United States and purchasing houses at costs far under what they were a decade ago.
Crime has escalated, and the impoverished are desperately seeking a means to elevate themselves financially. Community colleges are overflowed and commuter colleges are in high demand. From the increase in traffic, cities want to better the roads, and public transportation, however being that crime is on the rise with unemployment in these cities, and the commuters whom attend these schools live far out of the city, the tax revenue dwindles making these upgrades impossible. City finances are instead allocated to better fitting the police and increase the size of the jails and prisons. The problems perpetuate one another and a pleasant solution is not in sight.
Scenario Story Development

In the future, we will live in a world wherein people are individualistic. Although we’ve all heard of the benefits of carpooling and riding public transportation, we continue to focus primarily on our own convenience. It may be better for the environment when we share rides and coordinate our commutes with the mass transit schedule, but more important than preservation of our earth is the preservation of our sanity.
“Chaotic” would be the most fitting word to describe the lives of typical American family members of tomorrow. Expectations of students and employees alike have skyrocketed due to advances in technology. Not only do we experience the pressure of competition with one another, but also we must strive to prove ourselves better than the machines we have developed to enhance our lives. Computers and the ever-shrinking devices that we utilize to communicate with one another have made us more easily accessible than ever before. Although peace and quiet are sought for, they cannot be found because phone calls, text messages and emails are constantly crying out for our attention.
The war in the Middle East that dominated our occupation for so many years has finally settled down and we are able to refocus our nation’s attention on more innovative ways of powering our vehicles. Gas is slowly becoming a thing of the past as we transition to more natural sources to fuel our cars. Steadily we are changing the way that we get around and are becoming more eco-friendly. The technological advances of the past decade have primarily been made in the field of medicine and communication, but transportation has emerged as the popular field for progress.

No comments: