The World in 2030

164 The World in 2030
of us on the planet our resources, natural or human-made,
will be stretched almost to the limit. Of course we will learn
to make more of everything – that is the wondrous ability
of humanity and its technologies – but the irresponsible
profligacy that is today’s defining characteristic of the
developed world will have disappeared for ever. In its place
will be a new form of consumerism; we will still have our
goods and services but we will all know how they arrived
and where they go once we have finished with them. Not to
be responsible for the resources we consume will, by 2030,
have become a moral crime. It may even have become a
legal crime.