Assumptions of the future (part 4/5)

Another reason we might see an abrupt change in our assumed tech-laden future is our economy. We have had highs and lows before, but what if we experienced a crash bigger than the Great Depression? What if we ended up like Greece recently did, with our financial system completely collapsing? It's happened elsewhere, so we shouldn't assume America is free from it. We may also experience a totalitarian government where we are heavily, if not totally, restricted in our power consumption levels. Already, our electric companies have denied us power during some of the hottest times of year. Remember the incident a few years ago in D.C. and Maryland, where many people signed up for a deal that allowed the electric company to turn off or regulate their usage during peak hours? The lure was to save money, but as many discovered the hard way when a heat wave hit, they should have never handed that control over to the electric company—hotels were full everywhere as people moved out of their homes in desperation to find air-conditioning. Someday, it may be out of our hands, and the government may regulate what we have entirely. Circulating “brown-outs” have been going on in Cuba for decades. We assume things would never get that bad, but history shows, governments have a way of getting out of hand.