My opinion about Alternative Worlds - Article Example

Megatrends describe the major and progressive changes that will define and shape the world in the near future. The world in 2030 will certainly be a lot different than the world at present as different factors, including individuals’ position, ownership of power, demography, and availability of food, water and energy, would have changed. According to the article, the major trends in the near future are likely to concern individual empowerment, diffusion of power, demographic patterns, and growing food, water and energy nexus.

Each of these megatrends is discussed as below. Individual Empowerment refers to the individualistic power that people in future are likely to possess as compared to the present. In the next 15 to 20 years, the level of poverty is likely to reduce thus causing a rise in the number of people categorised as middle class in the entire world. Also, such people would be more educated, have access to modern communications and manufacturing technologies, as well as live in a world with better health-care facilities.

This trend is significant as it determines the amount of power that an individual possesses. Unlike the present where individual power is limited, this trend will give people much say in matters that affect them. Diffusion of power describes power shift from powerful states such as United States and Europe, to other emerging economies in the world such as China and Brazil, and finally to non-state groups or coalitions. As other economies grow, it will be difficult for some few states such as the U.S. to assume total power.

In addition, emergence of groups that own most factors of production and communication networks will cause power to further shift from states to amorphous coalitions. This trend is significant as powerful states such as United States will lost much of the power to the other players in global leadership. The third megatrend is in demographic patterns and this describes the composition and the nature of the