One Week in 2050

Please check out my disclaimer on the About page attempting to preempt misunderstandings and/or annoyance surrounding this work before they may happen.

First of all, let me tell you: it’s a tough, yet rewarding gig writing positive future fiction. Dystopia is much easier, one just has to tune into any mainstream media channel to get inspiration. Positive scenarios are unbelievable and apparently unpopular (but that’s actually untrue!), they seem unreachable, and so unlikely that they are not worth considering further because they are never going to come about anyway.

That’s totally utopian, man. You’re a bit naïve, huh. You’re wasting your time. Never gonna happen.

[Mnnnh yeah nah – definitely not gonna happen with that attitude.]

Allow me, my dear reader, to quote Socrates at this point: “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

Read more on the importance of narrative technology.

So, in that spirit, I have kept at it for over a decade now. This novel, and the world it is based in, has matured with me, has had its gestating time. I have learnt so much about myself and others, have changed my own life around (If ye talk (and write) the talk ye gotta walk the walk.), and all of it has, more or less, flown into this story.

It’s been my work to research deeply into the subject matters of existence and experience, constantly exploring how to reach closest to the regenerative principles hailed by utopia while staying in an objective yet deeply weighed-in, practical state of honest appraisal.

Read more about my background and motive.

I began writing the novel, set in real time, from the POV (Point Of View) of the rebels, describing how they “did the revolution.” My plan was to publish in 2012 (LOL). I noticed quickly that there were way too many factors involved in this “revolution” for me to capture to make it believable all the while living my own life, making a living and experiencing the stuff that is worth telling. So I turned to the future, and began describing the world I wanted to live in as a grandmother, and looking back at the revolution and Old Society in the context of the history classes of my fictional granddaughter. This was a neat solution. Through my work in activism and advocacy I was already focusing much more on “future living,” it seemed like a good idea to manifest that stuff (I don’t think I had ever used to word “manifest” at that time), and it meant that I didn’t have to go into the nitty-gritty details of the revolution and transition, and could instead focus on the goal setting, asking myself – what kind of society do I want to grow old in?

But it all still seemed a bit far-fetched with this revolution, considering the state that the world and humanity was in, and the question remained:

How could I make this not-too-distant-yet-seemingly-very-far-far-away-positive-future-scenario seem possible, plausible, believable?

How could I pave the way towards “the transition,” what could kickstart it?

Humanity needs a wake up call, something to get us ready for all the work that needs doing, on the planet, but also on ourselves.

I needed a scenario that would shake humanity to the core to make it possible to adjust power structures, re-align value systems, forgive ourselves and each other, and to begin working together and supporting each other.

What I definitely needed was the excellent, forward-thinking, omni-win-win benevolent global power takeover planning and execution by the highly organised, well-connected, uber-national rebel group called the Knitting Circle (KC).

On top of that I considered viruses, wars (in my part of the universe i.e. this website also known as PORD or Process Of Reciprocal Destruction), extra terrestrial influences like asteroid impacts, cosmic radiation and solar flares, tsunamis, floods, volcano outbreaks, ash clouds, sulphur clouds, acid rain, nuclear winters, nuclear reactor meltdowns, famines, recessions…

Most of these scenarios represent the lowest, most hackneyed, cheap-ass dystopianism, which I had really wanted to – largely – avoid. I always grappled over the question of how many of my Mitmenschen (fellow human beings) I should kill off to make the positive future possible. But that just never sat well with me – call me a softie or a liar or a hippie or crazy – I truly am a compassionate being who doesn’t enjoy killing others off, even just on paper in a fictional story. I do consider each one of you, my dear readers, along with all the other human beings out there, my brothers and sisters – and I love you and I want all of you (and me!) to thrive.

What I enjoy are omni-win-win situations, building bridges and tearing walls down between people, fostering connection and creativity and abundance and hugs…!

It is now March 2020, and it seems like our situation is getting more dystopian by the minute.  If I had the choice I would choose for humanity the least cruel and painful way to get us into the driver seats of our own evolution – alas, that is likely not the way we’ll learn the lesson…so as of today (21.3.) I have decided to go with a combination of corona virus inducing a recession while volcanos begin erupting as transition-inducing factors for the backstory while continuing to manifest the best!

All that being said – there is not much harping on about the past in this story anyways – the focus has always been the positive future vision. What we will have to do today and tomorrow and for the next few years or so, is figure out a way to get “there.” And much of that unfortunately can’t be planned very well with all that uncertainty we are existing in in this grand old universe.

And – this is just fiction in the end – so I encourage you to choose your own adventure! Add your own scenarios, your very own regional transition stories and future manifestations. I would love to hear about them, and I’m sure so would your family and friends.

And so, dear readers, read on, and enjoy, and contribute, and be kind to others, and remember to remember your Self.

With much love

Junia Kartal

Things on Earth have changed in the last few decades – dramatically one could say – but then again not so much that one wouldn’t recognise it for Earth.

Following the virus outbreak in the year 2020, the global recession and “Dark Years” due to ash clouds from volcanic eruptions started a long chain of events that brought about a massive transition on Earth. 

Decisions were made rapidly, and changes even quicker. The changes that planet Earth went through meant that human beings had to undergo significant changes also. The traditional power holders showed their true colours and worthlessness in times of real need, and just like that, the 2020 decade became the time of the enlightenment and unification of the People. It was the only option humanity had left. And with that, the planetary pillage of the planet was reduced, then stopped and new systems were born all over the world. And all this within just a short decade!

Up to 2030, and of course, continuing up to this very day in March 2050, every region and every person saw major transitions on all kinds of levels. Individual and collective transitions, tough ones and simple ones, transitions that everybody hated to go through and others that were massively popular. Transience became accepted as a fact of life, and once the many problems of the very early 21st century were seen as challenges and opportunities, the People everywhere were ready to overcome, to adapt, to break out, to help out.

Was is the dawning of the new Age? Had the Mayans really been correct about the end of one world and the beginning of another (2012 had been less than a decade ago after all)? Was the timing just a coincidence? Was it the work of one or many Gods or of the Universe and its creation, our Mother Gaia herself? Was it just that time and corruption were so ripe?

Fact is that the decisive actions of the Knitting Circle (KC) were the game changer in guiding humanity’s next phase in evolution: the transition to a decentralised, post-war, post-multicultural, omni-win-win, meaning-loaded, New Society that lives in harmony with nature and itself, a transformation from a disjointed and unequal world society, run by murky organisations and people with questionable ethics and goals, to today’s New Society that nurtures balance, and at once liberates, supports, challenges and takes care of its People.

The message of the Transition had been clear and simple:

Everything human beings need is provided for; there is no need to fight over resources. We can do this if only we stand together.

The world’s population stopped their various daily grinds beginning in March 2020. Everywhere – not just where disaster happened to strike that day. The KC’s Marketing team included poets, musicians, and visual artists who produced videos, music, stories, memes, and speeches that helped change the tides – from me to we, from scarcity to abundance, from fear to love, from ignorance to knowledge, from helpless to self-directed. It was not about revolution (“revolve” i.e. “going in circles” we had been doing for long enough) – it was about evolution, about a new phase, a step up, new perspectives and opportunities.

Then the People everywhere set out to take their first steps on the unknown path to a peaceful, interconnected, truly free societal world system. And so, humans kept making history. Weekly, daily, all the time. Tons of it. Perhaps for the first time ever, People were aware of the fact that they were making history.

Everybody played their part in transitioning to the current age of peace and abundance.

Endless discoveries, improvements, ideas. So much hard work. So much fun!

So once again, this is March 2050. The place is the east-coast of Australia. ‘A week in 2050’ explores a variety of characters’ lives in New Society, painting a pictures of the challenges and awesomeness they face in the extraordinary times they live in…

*1999 in Tokyo, Japan

Star sign: Scorpio

Hobbies: Reading (especially comic books), writing, drawing, martial arts, consciousness exploration 

Profession: counsellor, teacher, public speaker, life coach, course developer and facilitator

Favourite community work: teaching and counselling children

Find out more about Takao.

*2027 in Caracas, Venezuela

Star sign: Virgo

Profession: Mother-to-be

Hobbies: Playing video games, reading, cultural studies, programming

Favourite community work: spending time with elders

Find out more about Maxine.

*2010 in Melbourne, Australia

Star sign: Taurus

Profession: Shaman, healer, council

Hobbies: Playing music, spending time with animals, painting, reading, meditation

Favourite community work: healing work

Find out more about Kevesh.

[in alphabetical order]

Alicia *1985

Amir *1950

Blu *2032

Find out more about Blu.

Carmelina *2023

Find out more about Carmelina.

Jacky *2032

JP *1980

Manai *2036

Silka *2011

Soleil *2009 – ꝉ2048

Thorben *2013

William Jnr *2009

William Snr *1979

The Knitting Circle (KC)

Founded in 2006, the KC was a globally represented underground organisation in Old Society that funded itself under the cover of a commercial renewable energy company and prepared humankind for various worst case scenarios. The KC’s overarching goal was to act as a guide during humanity’s next phase in evolution, the transition to a decentralised, post-war, post-multicultural New Society that lived in harmony with nature and itself.

During the Shift and transition, The Knitting Circle guided and enabled human adaptability and ingenuity. It is certainly thanks to the KC’s careful provisioning that we are here to day.

From a tiny underground organisation with wild dreams, with a few sleeper cells around the globe, capturing exactly what an increasing amount of human beings were longing for:

to be involved in a massive project that could change the course of history one day, that would steer humanity towards conscious evolution and planetary stewardship, away from dusty old paradigms that no longer served us but kept being repeated and upheld as the only alternative; towards a more balanced, more meaningful human co-existence in communion with nature and each other, where strengths were harnessed, weaknesses taken as opportunities for growth, and where not just the competitive spirits were rewarded, but also the creative, humble, cooperative, compassionate ones.

Working for the KC preparing for the transition was on many levels secret, especially once the organisation began hiding behind a proper business front, paying wages to their members, from 2011.