Greatest Scenario for Humanity

With a POD no earlier than Jan 1st 1900 how could humanity become the most technologically advanced, integrated, democratic, and economically stable.

Some thoughts would be, no Great War, which means no WW2 and Communism would likely not be as strong as it was especially if the Bolsheviks never gain power. Also another interesting POD would be no depression.
 
Create a device by 1900 that could detect if people were lying. Deceit and the fear of being deceived leads to the vast majorities of our problems.


A lack of being able to deceive people should remove the stock mark crash and world war 1.
I don't know if anything could have stopped communism. People have a need to try alternative systems/religions and communism sounded good enough for a lot of people to have a go at it.

It would have lead to very bright future with the whole world enjoying a level of prosperity at least 2 or 3 times above what it enjoys now. Poor and corrupt nations today would be much better off than the first world is today with such a change.
 
Humanity is progressed by endless war. With the failure of american intervention in WW1 to break the stalemate , the great war continues in its fullest fury. By 1921 large bomber aircraft are turning the cities of urope to rubble. by 1925 more reliable lorries mean that the french government institutes a nationwide road building scheme utilising captured germans .These 4 lane motorways soon fill with military traffic , in particular new 16 wheel tractor-trailer lorries delivering supplies from the channel ports. By 1925 things are getting dire. After the great german offensive of 1923 , both armies reduced offensive acions and settled down into a heavily fortified defence system , letting the airforces duke it out. In germany ,the import of food from the conquored reigons of the former tsarist empire have given the Hollozern reigeme a new lease on life. Finaly , in 1929 both sides agree to an armistice , france is liberated in return for alsace-lorraine.

Both alliance systems remain intact (minus the loss of russia to the Ultra Nationalist Kolchak Reigeme) and a long cold war ensues ,until....

1954, france drops a nuclear bomb on the german naval yard at kiel. unbenown to the french , the germans have similar technolgy and retaliate against lille . both sides agree to a truce. having seen the folly of nuclear war , the world in general condemms their use and a patter n of gradual disarmerment ensues , and by 1960 only france and germany maintain small stockpiles. however the world had already been plunged into another war in 1956 , as the british empire (and the newly formed autonomous dominions of india ,british africa and egypt) are attacked by the american Navy off the coast of bermuda. The radical Dictator Huey long (who had seized power in 1936) believed that the british were plannig to topple him.Fightig against the european allies , it took more than 25 years before European alliance troops extinguished the last geurilla pockets in the swamps of louisiana. In this time the great powers had seen the dramatic development of miniturised computer technology , space bourne missile systems and medical care. soldiers were now going into battle with miniturised radio/GPS sets and with laser guided munitions to back them up. Nuclear Powered aircraft had made transatlantic paratroopers a reality ad the new fusion reactors they used had been adapted to a vast array of civilian uses.

By the year 2000 , the peoples f the world were finnaly at peace. With a gradual de-colonialisation progress had come a prosperous african continent that was rapidly becoming a global economic powerhouse to rival the dominion if india , or the chinese republic. After european ocupation had ended , the US had engaged in a short civil war , spliting into four new nations , each of which had now formed stable democracies. those in the western world could now expect to live to see 90 or 100, and everyone else was not far behinf. Fusion power had made energy wars (and global warming) dissapear. and now electronics technology was so advanced that artificial intelligence , whilst still not rivaling humans , was taking an increasing role in the running of everyday life.

All in all , it looked as though despite humanities inhumanity to itself in the 20th century , the 21st would prove to be thier golden age....
 
I have to ask, how is a pair of nuke strikes in Western Europe the 'Greatest Scenario for Humanity?'

Because clearly large scale death, long term violence and mass slaughter are always good.


At least in certain minds.
 
Someone, or a group of someone, came along and start preaching the idea of non-violence like Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr. and world peace. After a series of governments opressions, the peace preachers won the fight by gathering everyone in the world to fast and pray(or other activities but work, like family reunion day) for one whole day, and telling the governments that it is the people, not the governments, that have the advantage. Then a world government established.
 
Multi-polar Europe was a chaotic tinderbox...

Imperialism certainly was anit-democratic...

Avoiding both world wars would very likely either save the imperial order or at the very least make it's ending, umm non-utopian ;).


China is such large percentage of the world's population.

POD the Nationalist win in CHina with significant American Aid, forging a long lasting alliance, greatly accerlerating economic growth for China with ever growing positive economic ripples.

Thus either no Korean War or a much more limited one, (China, if it intervenes, does so on the US side).

Either no VIetnam War or French victory.

THis prevents the various 60s social movements from becoming tainted with Anti-americanism and/or communist sympathy.

With overall better world economic health and western confidence, lets butterfly in a French challenge to the US, but instead of OTL whining and undermining of US policy, a post-Apollo programe to put a French man on the Moon!

Leads to second space race in the mid-70s. Another way to accelerate tech. Use of more advanced systems.

Healthier world economy and inter-national community reduces appeal of Islamic extermism and Soviet encouragement in the Arab world, fewer Arab/iSRAELI wars.


Soviet crisis takes place in a world with ongoing space exploration (budget drain) and stronger west. Even less possiblity of Cold War going hot.

Gorbechev reforms work better, transistion to democracy goes smoother and sticks.

2000 NATO AND EATO (East Asian Treaty Organization) merged.

All 5 veto members of UN, America, Russia UK, France, and China are allies, democracies and working together.:D


MOvement begins to expand permanent Council to include India, Brazil and Japan. It is telling that it has become assumed that democratic goverment is part of the definition of a world class power.:cool:

Ohh, and the space programe has amoung other things, lead to Solar Power Satellites by 2007.

Construction of a beanstalk begins 2008.:D


Whew, strangly short of breath:eek:
 
I have to ask, how is a pair of nuke strikes in Western Europe the 'Greatest Scenario for Humanity?'

Let's define the "Greatest Scenario for Humanity" first. Are we looking at it in terms of technological and social accomplishments, maximum population, highest life expectancy, highest individual standard of living, or something else?

I think he took a utilitarian approach, in which in order to achieve the greater good for humanity, additional inequities and evils had to be suffered. Basically the "ends justify the means" philosophy, which, in his scenario, postulated that in order to achieve a more peaceful, more technologically advanced, and more socially developed world, more sacrifices had to be made for such.
 
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