DAD HOLLYWOOD’S PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR & BEYOND

It is tempting to think of 2020 as a false start to the decade. But such an assessment fails to take into account the births of ideas and trends in the 2000s and 2010s that have been brought into the realm of the ‘new normal’ during The Pandemic. There are five standouts for me that prove this last year to be the official nail in the coffin lid of the 20th Century and the beginning of more hopeful years ahead.

MILLENNIALS WILL SET THE AGENDA. I grew up in a time when someone else set the agenda. Yes, we pursue our dreams, but my generation had a tendency to believe someone else controlled the purse strings. You had a creative idea, someone else funded it.

Cults, self-help books, populist politicians, conspiracy theories… all of these phenomena went mainstream in the 21st Century thanks to the self-fulfilling nature of the internet. They all have something in common beyond the unparalleled, marketed reach of the world wide web, which is that each proposes following the advice, warning, lessons, or philosophy of someone other than oneself.

Millennials look to themselves for income and inspiration. This is the generation that says to potential employers, “You want me, I set my own hours.” And woe to anyone who attempts to micromanage a Millennial.

Millennials create income through branding by understanding human nature. Business is not something they engage in between weekends… it is an extension of them as a person. When money needs to be raised, doing so in a grassroots fashion maintains the integrity of one’s idea. As work moved from the office to the walk-in closet in 2020, Millennials felt right at home.

Millennials have come of age and will now steer the conversations that characterize this century, just as their great-grandparents owned the 20th Century.

THE INTERNET WILL BE HEAVILY REGULATED. As someone who was born in the analogue age, I can recall the debate over television. Was it a benefit to society, or did the ‘boob tube’ contribute to the dumbing-down of humanity? In the end, the jury determined entertainment and education canceled each other out. Now, in the golden age of tv, programming has taken on a cultural significance akin to opera of the 19th Century.

We now question if the echo chamber aspect of the internet has made life better, or facilitated division within societies around the world, replacing external enemies with those from within. The internet has become a Wild West, where might trumps right. Developing countries that experience cultural revolutions fueled by social media are monitored with interest by the entire world. Yet, as the ideological civil war raging in the west is fueled by social media, as well, it only stands to reason that western governments will be forced to bring the mouthpiece under control… or risk ever-escalating violence, civil unrest, and independence movements that further undermine the post-WWII world order that made them rich.

FOSSIL FUELS AND PLASTIC WILL GO THE WAY OF THE DINOSAUR. My grandmother always told me that mankind only changes due to necessity… and then, only when staring into the abyss of the alternative.

In retrospect, worry over climate change was not a good use of my energy. Mankind was never going to do anything about it until staring into the abyss. So why worry? But after two decades of entrepreneurs investing in green technologies, renewable is now the affordable option.

Tesla made electric sexy. Anything else is viewed as antiquated by the current generation. Imagine what their children will buy? Maybe this is why the Conservative Party of the UK committed the country last year to no new combustion engine vehicles by 2030?

This is disappointing news for those who dreamt of coal-powered cars (to stick it to the EPA) and a return to whale oil in our homes (because it hurts more)… but however you view climate change, imminent threat or not, the debate ended the day Ford announced an electric f150 truck. When business changes, necessity has arrived… and it doesn’t matter what a politician thinks about it.

Now, with news in December 2020 that a plastic-eating bacteria cocktail could solve our waste problem, the world appears on the cusp of a paradigm shift not seen since the industrial revolution.

THE END OF CINEMA IS NIGH. It has been almost a decade since George Lucas and Steven Spielberg gave their now famous proclamation that cinema was moving to the living room. Audiences would still show up for a 4-D, rollercoaster of a blockbuster screening… but for anything short of amusement park worthy fare, the giant flat-screen in your home would not only have to suffice, but it would be preferred.

The number of new movies, including blockbusters, my family watched last year from our sofa, proves to me the cinema chain closures are not a temporary phenomena. The only thing that will change is the cocktails we make for viewing parties. Sadly, the demand for babysitters will plummet, and young people will need to find other ‘first jobs’.

UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME IS NOT CHARITY. Andrew Yang made it the centrepiece of his presidential primary campaign. Canada and Finland have conducted social experiments, and Switzerland had a vote on it. The vote shot the idea down… for now. But by 2029, I am confident at least one country will make UBI the law of the land.

2020 showed us that financial intervention in the day-to-day lives of citizens can save economies. But, more than that, a world in which wealth is now concentrated in a smaller group of people than it was in the Middle Ages, has made even the most ardent capitalist keen to talk about ‘levelling up’ society. UBI would be a big leap forward in helping reduce the gaps between economic classes and addressing the deplorable racial imbalance within economic opportunity.

With China poised to surpass America’s economic output, it is universal basic income (partnered with universal healthcare) that will expand the middle-class in the west after years of its decline. With security comes the confidence to take chances, giving birth to a new age of invention and the renewal of the free market as the preeminent economic model on our planet. Perhaps it could even save the post-WWII world order from collapse.

All of us are happy to see the back of 2020, but it still deserves its own Christmas tree ornament when the holiday season rolls around in 2021.