A ‘what if’ piece of speculative fiction about a possible future that could result from the systemic forces changing our world.
// How might climate change refugees (estimated to number 1.5 billion by 2050) intersect with the seemingly never-ending string of cryptocurrency failures?
Happier days. <img src>
// The opening scene of the 2049 Oscar-winning film “The Appalachian Refugees”
Two weathered people clad in Carhartt sit at a table. Between them sits a half-drunk bottle of whiskey surrounded by stacks of paperwork. A bare bulb overhead sways slightly in the evening breeze.
Bullard: I don’t know what we are going to do. <Downs a shot>
Trippe: Seriously. We’re screwed. <Downs a shot>
Bullard: You and me are both 10th-generation Appalachians. How are we supposed to deal with this?
Trippe: We’ve had to fight for everything. And now, after decades of trying to get people to come to Appalachia, now we’ve got too many people… and still not enough money!
[In unison]: Blame the Dutch!
Bullard: *Hiccups* The Dutch were supposed to be smart! They built all those dikes to fend off the sea. And when the water started rising in the 2030s, the oh-so-smart Dutch started investing in their national cryptocurrency to build at a level never before seen!
Trippe: And then the entire Arctic sheet collapsed on the SAME DAY someone found a bug in their cryptocurrency smart contract. Suddenly the Netherlands had neither land nor currency.
Bullard: So now we’ve got 5 million Dutch refugees that the government is relocating here, on high ground, but with no supplies or support.
Trippe: And all their money is worthless!
<In unison, they down a shot>