Society & Culture What would we do if all life was ending in 20 years

[JuddsABlue]

So its discovered in 20 years Earth is going to be shattered with a mass of asteroids and we have a 0% chance of survival. Its all over baby, we cant avoid it and the news goes world wide.

What do you envision for the remaining 20 years, what are people going to do?

Will people work?
What would happen with money?
Will kids go to school?
What would happen to the jails? What exactly could you offer prison guards to stick around and keep the dangerous ones in?

Maybe you want to travel, but will you trust a pilot to fly you?

What type of laws would the governmen try and enforce? A ban on having children? Would people still choose to bring children in to the world?

Would religion take over or die completely? Would people still go to war? would ISIS even bother?

What things do you expect to change? Could there be a mass world wide effort to get somebody in to space in an effort to keep the human race alive?

I think the western population would seperate a little, a group of non believers, religious groups would stick together in small communities, the younger would probably have a "party" take on life, while the 50+ would probably just try and enjoy their remaining years in a very different way than they had planned.

maybe a little bit of this

Thoughts?

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I shat myself after reading the first sentence, then realised it was a hypothetic

 

[vealesy]

I dont think i will live that long anyway so wont change too much.

Maybe i would dance a bit more.

 

[radiojake]

you should always dance like no one was watching, vealesy....

with one fist in the air

 

[Hank Scorpion]

A brilliant hypothetical!

Ideally, we'd carry on life as normal until there's about six months or so left and we all do whatever the hell we want. 20 years is too long for everyone to run around completing their bucket list.

I'm not even sure governments would release details of impending armageddon 20 years out. Things could turn bad very quickly if people walk off their jobs. If nothing else, they'd probably spin the myth of being able to prevent the destruction of the world, just to keep everyone hopeful (and working).

Will people work?
Ideally yes they should, but there is no telling how people would react individually. If enough people were freaking out then we'd see society descend into anarchy.

I think most people would use common sense that 20 years, jobless is too long. I think most people would quit their jobs in the last two years.

Keeping things as they are though would be very difficult. There'd be many jobs that become automatically redundant. The construction industry would shrink massively.

What would happen with money?
Financial systems would have to remain in place for as long as possible. If the economy shuts down, people walk off their jobs and society shuts down.

Will kids go to school?
I'd say yes, for every child that is born at the time of the announcement. There are still basic skills which children would have to learn, and hopefully their parents are still at work, so if nothing else they need a daycare centre.

I'd think most kids would leave school at about year 8 though.

What would happen to the jails?
As with everyone else, the guards would hopefully stay at their posts for as long as possible. However, there is no doubt that they (and everyone else) would walk off their jobs with a few months left. I'd imagine the violent ones would have to be executed.

Maybe you want to travel, but will you trust a pilot to fly you?
I would, although I'd do most of my travel in the first few years of the announcement.

What type of laws would the government try and enforce? A ban on having children? Would people still choose to bring children in to the world?
I doubt government could enforce such a law. Those already in relationships who want children would probably still have children, however I doubt there'd be many births in the last ten years. I'd imagine there'd be a fair few accidental pregnancies in the last weeks though.

We'd see a real tightening of laws though at first. There would be a high risk of people going berserk in the first few weeks, they'd need to keep control.

Would religion take over or die completely? Would people still go to war? would ISIS even bother?
Religion would become significantly more valued. If there's no way out, then surely people would hope for a better afterlife.

Wars would still probably occur. I'd imagine a couple of religious crackpots (see ISIL), could get a few people fighting for 'a better afterlife.'

What things do you expect to change? Could there be a mass world wide effort to get somebody in to space in an effort to keep the human race alive?
There'd definitely be an effort. I think if we got all our experts working on it, we could probably send a couple of people off the Earth with some sustainability. I doubt such a mission could survive for many years beyond Earth though.

Other changes:
- Universities would shut down pretty quickly (unless involved in the saving-humanity mission). There wouldn't be much benefit in spending time doing degrees. Students (and prospective students) would move into low-skilled jobs.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

I dont think i will live that long anyway so wont change too much.

How old are you now?

 

[Rustin Cohle]

Complete military state as soon as the announcement is made to delay the inevitable breakdown of society.

 

[BALKAN]

I shat myself after reading the first sentence, then realised it was a hypothetic

Woops, should have kept reading. I had already clubbed my father to death to assert my role as alpha male.

 

[SterlingArcher]

Would probably man up and find out what an orgasm while stimulating my prostate feels like

 

[SterlingArcher]

Would consider stealing the face of a super scientist and when the astroid is near and the inevitable rocket to freedom is boarding, climb on aboard

 

[james brayshaw]

I wouldn't want to be a good looking girl in this scenario.

 

[SterlingArcher]

Reality TV would probably die in the arse, who the * would care about who is leaving the Big Brother house when there is only a few years left (who the * cares now), so society as we know it would collapse into anarchy with nothing to distract the masses

 

[Leper]

I fuond this really fascinating.... essentially it's a doco about a known collision of Earth with a Neutron Star. With 74 years' notice. So we build a large spaceship to GTFO. A lot of the issues described above get discussed, and the design of the carft; where do we go; WHO GETS TO GO; social issues; etc. Some of it's a bit far fetched as you'd expect from something of this nature, but it's a lot of food for thought nonetheless.

 

[SterlingArcher]

We would get 20 years worth of threads from some posters about how the asteroid is a black flag and that it's actually an amalgamation of Jewish leaders and the Bush family flying through space to scare the masses into eating GMO's, but don't listen to me, I'm just a shill

 

[Silent Alarm]

Reality TV would probably die in the arse, who the **** would care about who is leaving the Big Brother house when there is only a few years left (who the **** cares now), so society as we know it would collapse into anarchy with nothing to distract the masses

To be honest, I could imagine plenty of people caring about Big Brother even on the last day of Earth. Goodbyes wouldn't be to families; they'd be evictions for Danny – but he deserves, he really dogged Michelle and Jack

 

[Catfish Alley]

I'd imagine that information wouldn't be released until about a year or so from impact. Then it would just be a free-for-all. I think they did that exact scenario in Deep Impact.

It's an interesting scenario. A lot of bad would happen but I don't think people only behave due to fear of repercussion or the fact they might live longer than 20 years. I mean, you don't see old people going on a rampage because they know they might die soon. People would band together as well, enjoy family more etc.

 

[PaddyO]

I actually think there'd be initial anarchy, rapes, murders, looters etc. for 6 - 12 mths before everyone realised 20 years is actually a long time so we'd better get some sort of society/community functioning.

As time progressed a lot of people would walk away from responsibilities which would make living harder for everyone.

In the last 2 or 3 years anarchy would return with a lot of people doing whatever the hell the want.

 

[Sydney Bloods]

Will people work?
Yes but people would walk from s**t jobs in an instant, whilst very few students would bother going through uni thus crippling high end jobs market.
leads to an oversupply of low skilled employee's creating job shortages. leading people back to s**t jobs. only for them to leave when they have had enough of it. this get's worse and worse until it breaks down and the only jobs that exist involve security farming and shipping food to population centres.

What would happen with money?
turn to absolute s**t, nobody would buy houses as their overpriced and loans would never be paid back. further more debt cycles turn to s**t as people max out credit with no intention of paying them back.

Will kids go to school?
yes and no, day care vanishes as the degrading economy, most school aged children still go to school but by the time we reach the 10 year mark uni is gone and a high percentage of high school students jig. with 5 years to go schools shutdown.

What would happen to the jails?
Crime to increase significantly as jobs market goes to s**t and economic collapse results in people stealing to survive, civil servants go without pay and new ones aren't hired drastically overloading the police and courts prisons become a free for all with inmates simply dumped inside to fend for themselves.

Maybe you want to travel, but will you trust a pilot to fly you?
polit isn't the issue as flying is one of those jobs where you don't do it unless you love it although some may have breakdowns and get suicidal, the biggest risk is maintenance flaws and contaminated fuel.

What type of laws would the government try and enforce? A ban on having children? Would people still choose to bring children in to the world?
as society continues to falter, zero tolerance is enacted military polices the public while criminals can be sentenced without judicial oversight, this leads to widespread corruption in the military troops, ultimately failing as more and more unpaid troopers desert.

Would religion take over or die completely? Would people still go to war? would ISIS even bother?
Religion in religious regions takes off with many areas fully following religious laws, while in areas that have low levels of religion, or previously multi faith reject religious intentions to deny what people perceive as their rights being violated which have become soo much more valued. this leads to attacks and hate crimes in all areas.

What things do you expect to change? Could there be a mass world wide effort to get somebody in to space in an effort to keep the human race alive?
it would start out well but turn to s**t quicker then melbournes 2015 season.

other issues, vices go through the roof drug and alchoal abuse go through the roof. gambling and the sex trade become the main industries. meanwhile a growth industry begins to emerge around peoples more depraved vices everything from dog fights to self harm, nothing is off limits.
Areas become patrolled by local militia as the military becomes less capable of providing policing duties, eventually government buildings are attack as young people blame the governement for lack of basic services like water supply and waste management.

 

[Catfish Alley]

It's interesting (troubling) that people seem to think that without law and order they'd turn into rapists and murderers.

 

[vealesy]

Reality TV would probably die in the arse, who the **** would care about who is leaving the Big Brother house when there is only a few years left (who the **** cares now), so society as we know it would collapse into anarchy with nothing to distract the masses

Why do people see anarchy as something that we collapse into?

Id have it as a higher consciousness state of being.

Something we will hopefully ascend to one day.

 

[brahj]

you should always dance like no one was watching, vealesy....

with one fist in the air

"Dance like nobody's watching, because they are probably looking at their phone."

 

[LukasTheGreat]

Lol, as If the government would reveal that sort of thing. Heck, we could already be on borrowed time.

 

[PaddyO]

Lol, as If the government would reveal that sort of thing. Heck, we could already be on borrowed time.

They couldn't keep it in. It'd be leaked I'd imagine.

 

[PaddyO]

It's interesting (troubling) that people seem to think that without law and order they'd turn into rapists and murderers.

I don't think I would. But I think the basest traits in a lot of individuals would come out. Society would become very unsafe in this scenario. Particularly if food became scarce etc.

 

[Catfish Alley]

I don't think I would. But I think the basest traits in a lot of individuals would come out. Society would become very unsafe in this scenario. Particularly if food became scarce etc.

Do you think your family, friends or colleagues would? I don't. I don't think the majority would. One of the biggest base traits of humans is working together. They have ever since their existence and I don't see why that would stop.

Agree that there would be some who would go all Mad Max though. And if food ran out it would cause mass panic.