It’s 2060 and we care about each other now. Individuality is cool, but selfishness isn’t. Most of us took back on our values, we set aside hurtful extreme nationalism, and try our best to respect each others religion. We understood there are biological differences between men and women but that the problem tormenting us all, was sexism. Feminists are no longer satanized. They are in courts, governments, hospitals, schools and pretty much everywhere. Education is way better, there are finally more schools than brothels even in rural parts of the world. There are women and men teaching in all levels, which has decreased gender violence in a great scale. Some people aren’t happy about it, but most have been after they realized how much of a victim they were to gender roles and above all, sexism.

We understood there were many economical differences to pretend we all needed the same to be okay. Although we still haven’t solved the inequality problem —because of how deep it was— we are now aware of its systemic roots and don’t blame people for not having enough money to escape their precarious living situations. There are more NGO’s that actually achieve changes, more people live above the poverty line and the basic needs are almost covered entirely worldwide talking. We now help each other out without seeking rewards. People do social service in their own countries and the ones that travel to others is because they really have something to give, and not just a postcolonial reference of third world countries needing to be white washed.

It is hard to say we live in a cotton candy world, because we don’t. The damage we made is so big that 40 years is still a short time to undo our mistakes, but we’re working towards it. By ruling nations with love instead of hardcore negative values that break apart it’s population, we have achieved a general improvement that is reflected everywhere, from the global economy, to the GDP of the countries and more importantly to the GNH, that measures the happiness of the people living within the nation. Gender neutral education has been a key, we use new learning methods that stop putting children in constant competition and teach them to help each other out. Each kid is in charge of their development and it has made each of them excel way more than they used to do. Governments now really focus on taking care of its children, and there is an international aid to take care of all the kids living in a violent environment. Necropolitics and biopolitics are practically over, there are still some countries that deny to change but that are on their way to become better and more caring. Extreme surveillance still exists but is aimed to improve the lives of people and not to manipulate them into thinking whatever suits its government best. Oriental countries have relaxed on their authoritarian laws, and western countries have toughen up for the improvement of their governments. Corruption is being eradicated because since children are little, they are taught to live with what they need, so perhaps in some decades, the concept will finally be obsolete.

After the big pandemic we went through in 2020, we realized there were more important things than consumerism. We started taking care of our bodies and minds. Animals returned to their natural habitats and most of us started consuming what we truly needed. A lot has changed in the last 40 years, but the undeniable improvement we’ve made is the way we consume. People have changed their consumption habits. We went from hyper consumerism to an ethical and solidary consumption. After the pandemic we realized we could all help each other instead of helping the transnational enterprises and realized how much good we made to each other when seeking for the greater goods. People started consuming locally and started aiming for plans that involved less consumption and more self fulfillment. We rediscovered a new way of living and enjoying life. We now think about what we buy, where it comes from, who it benefits or damages, and where will it end. We are way happier. If we keep this up, perhaps in another 40 years, our air will be a 100% clean, we’ll convince everyone to take on a sustainable way of life and even more people will realize that caring for themselves spiritually, they start caring for the others as if they were themselves. We are open to feel sad again. We now know we cannot be producers 24/7 and don’t expect each other to be joyful all the time. We’ve given up in exploiting ourselves and allow our minds to wander, to get bored and to think about everything that we go through. Surprisingly, giving up on happiness has brought us more genuine happiness. It seems that the world now rules itself based on “Care, respect, and life”. We respect each other, care for one another and apply it to live, if someone isn’t living based on those values, then they are surviving and not living.

We still remember 2020, people remember how the world stopped and society hit the reset button. We remember tenderly how much damaged we caused to our planet and how the pandemic brought us back together although it physically separated us for a while. Each person sought for each other as they sought for themselves, and it caused an improvement in our environment. It brought changes we never thought could be reached in such a short period of time. Thinking about 2020 reminds us that when working together, marvelous thing can be attained. It also humbles us down because the virus took over our lives catastrophically and made us learn how insignificant we really are against nature’s simple organisms.

All the love,

a girl stuck in the past struggling to make this a plausible present for the future.

P.S. A story that inspires me: One of my best friends, she passed away a few months ago and it devastated me because she was always thriving to make social changes. If she were to live this pandemic, she would have never believe the things we are living. Also, I am motivated to believe that all the movements that happened in the beginning of March, won't stop and they will have effects. I am also inspired by all the people determined due to the pandemic, to change their lifestyles. It resonates because thanks to people like the ones inspiring me, this future might be plausible. The world needs all of our strength and determination to maintain itself.

Lilith Takahashi Masso based in Mexico City

https://archive.org/details/my2060_202004