Empires of the Mind

Empires of the Mind is an RP made by Facepunch users Sobotnik and Mr. Face. It lasted a turn before slowly dying out.
Set in the near future of 2044, Empires of the Mind is set with a small amount of lore, recounting history from 2014 up until the current setting. The political situation around the world has changed immensely, with nations such as Russia, China and Japan being arguably the most affected. For example; beginning in 2039, Russia's economy had collapsed, leading to their withdrawal from Eastern Ukraine, major loss of life due to cracking down on revolutionary insurrections, and the government's eventual ousting from St Petersburg, giving many minority states the opportunity to declare independence, leading to the political situation in Eastern Europe as it is in 2044.
==Lore==
Here is a list of future events, year by year.
2014:
Panama canal expansion project completed. Google glass goes public. Robot pack-mules enter military service, Lasers adopted by navies of developed countries.
NATO pulls out of Afghanistan. 500,000 automated checkouts exist worldwide. Scottish independence vote fails.
2015:
Millenium development goals are largely successful. Price of personal genome sequencing drops to $80. First self-regulating artificial heart. 3D printers now readily commercially available.
European Union adopts legislation to phase in LED lighting, trucks now must have emergency brakes. 10nm chips enter mass production. Carteret Islands begin to be abandoned. Conservatives win British elections.
2016:
China's 13th five year plan adopted, tunnel to be built connecting Dalian to Yantai. Focus on internal reforms and boosting of consumption as exports slacken, farmers encouraged to consolidate holdings, attempts to control land prices and prevent environmental degradation.
Brazil holds Olympic games. India holds first manned spaceflight. United Kingdom passes law to microchip all dogs. First hotel in space. Tours now offered 20km up via balloon.
Mining and agriculture now starting to adopt automated computer systems and robots. HD CCTV cameras now increasingly common. OLEDs now entering widespread commercial use. Gothhard base tunnel completed. Democrats win 2016 elections.
2017:
Kingdom tower opens, the first kilometer high structure on earth. Montenegro joins the European Union. Yemen suffers from instability, requiring peacekeeping forces, due to water and food shortages. Sales of electric and hybrid trucks now exceeds 100,000 per annum. The first lunar tourism company begins to prepare trips to the moon.
First human trials of regenerated teeth. Electronic paper begins to enter commercial production. Cosmetic surgery market has doubled in size since 2010. Chinese economy goes into slowdown.
2018:
Chinese economy now larger than US economy.Internal migration in USA at all time low. First widespread trials of successful HIV vaccines. Uganda begins to export oil. Polio eradication program stepped up, new cases drops by 90%. African central Bank established. Robots now being gradually integrated into surgery.
The last major rainforest in Nigeria is cut down. Catalonia begins a campaign of civil disobedience.
2019:
First lunar tourists buying tickets in advance. South Aral sea is declared gone. Northern Sea route breaches 1000 vessel mark for annual trips. Arctic oil exploration underway by Russia. China and America gradually increasing military focus on Asia-Pacific region. Property, pension, taxation and inheritance laws gradually shift to favor the middle aged. Serious banking reform begins in developed countries. Serbia and Iceland join the European Union.
2020:
Relaxation of laws on private liberties in the west. Soft drugs being decriminalized. 4.5 billion now connected to the internet. 5G standard begins to be introduced for mobile phones. First trials in growing complex human organs via stem cells. First trials in effective malarial pills. 4320p TV enters commercial production.
Holographic television development underway. Bridge of the horns begins construction. Japan holds the Olympic games. Smart meters now starting to become commonplace in European homes. Public smoking bans widespread throughout USA. Mercury pollution on a decline. Glacier national park ice free in summer. UK Queen Elizabeth class of ships now operational. 30,000 drones exist in the United States, delivery by drone gradually adopted. 9th generation game consoles released. Democrats win in USA in 2020.
2021:
Global temperatures have risen 1 degree Celsius to 1961-1990 average. Arctic ice sheet now consistently shrinks each year. Five-year Cancer survival rates steadily improving. Traditional microchips reaching smallest possible size. First Chinese space station. 14th Chinese 5 year plan, based largely around addressing economic inequality, environmental problems, working conditions, welfare, health, military. Birth rates rise rapidly in China as government encourages people to have children to replace workforce. Chinese economy slowing and suffering from frequent bank runs and financial crisis.
2022:
Experimental fusion reactors now sustaining reactions. Clothing with silicone to prevent wetness caused by water now entering commercial production. Poland begins exporting the PL-01 stealth tank
2023:
Gorillas critically endangered. Borneo's rainforests being wiped out. London completes largest major sewer network improvements in 150 years. Case less ammunition adopted by US military.
2024:
African elephants begin to go extinct in wild. Gay marriage legal in every US state. Albania and Ukraine join the European Union.
2025:
Work begins on preparations for lunar tourists to go to the moon. Rhinos begin to go extinct in the wild. First medical use of nanobots. Land prices skyrocketing in China, debt growing to unsustainable levels, central government starved for taxation revenue.
Vertical farms begin to enter mainstream adoption in urban centers. First naval rail gun adopted. Fuel efficiency has doubled since 2010 in automobiles. High-speed rail networks are now being constructed on a large scale in most countries.
2026:
Majority of seafood now grown via aquaculture. Maldives begin to be abandoned. Carteret isles cease to exist. Major demographic crisis underway in China, central government promotes having children and delays pensions. Human-like robotic hands developed.
China drops use of five year plans in favor of more flexible policies. New Keynesian policies pursued and party control maintained, civil unrest rising in Tibet and Xinjiang.
2027:
Major maglev construction in Japan now connecting much of the country. Hydrogen fuel cell cars now number 1 million in annual sales. European Union forces Spain to release Catalonia as a sovereign state. It immediately applies for EU membership.
2028:
ISS decommissioned. First launch of spaceship to moon, where billionaire tourist is first human to walk on moon since 1970s. Manned fighter planes being phased out. Population of UK hits 70 million. Printed electronics widespread.
2029:
Shops heavily automated or otherwise online. Intelligent advertizing widespread. A loose advertising program is discovered to have become semi-sentient. Lake Chad vanishes.
2030:
Global population now 8 billion. Gasoline cars falling out of favor. Number one global disease is depression. India most populous country. Space junk poses major problems to space travel. Lunar tourism now an annual event.
Cuban government peacefully transfers power and establishes a democracy. It makes moves to align itself with both the United States and the South American countries.
2031:
Bangkok begins to be abandoned due to flooding. Vladimir Putin dies of a urinary tract infection, Russian internal problems escalate and spiraling debt from military expenditure and weak economic growth causes decline of central government power.
Marriage in decline. Demographic crisis in developed world starting to come to an end. America and Japan now seeing major demographic change due to immigration.
2032:
Chinese space station deorbited. Terabit internet speeds now commercially available. Turkey begins integration with European Union. East African Federation forms. The European Union bans aggressive advertizing to protect citizens privacy. Chinese economy recovers and begins steady growth, although debt climbs again and infrastructure is little used.
2033:
Supersonic airliners once again becoming common. Hypersonic airliners starting to enter limited use. First use of interactive holographic wall screens. Botswana has one of the highest HDI indexes in the world.
2034:
Switzerland phases out nuclear energy. Russian agriculture, oil and north sea ports, having grown extensively for two decades and taken advantage of land opened by climate change, now in trouble due to political instability.
2035:
Arctic ice sheet absent during summer. Middle Eastern countries entering period of stagnation. Self-driving vehicles passing regulatory hurdles and becoming common on roads. Robots begin serving in combat roles.
2036:
Lemurs go extinct in the wild. Bionic eyes on par with human eye. In-vitro meat reaching commercial use. Moldova begins unification talks with Romania and joins the European Union.
2037:
Quantum computers begin major adoption by governments and education. Morocco signs European Union association agreement. By this date, every European country with the exception of micro states, Belarus, Russia are now either planning to join or have already done so.
2038:
Chinese economy starting to go into severe stagnation after several years of recovery and growth. Chinese population is now in major retraction. First teleportation of organic molecules. European Union and United States begin sending joint manned missions to moon. Temporary research lab established there, with plans for permanent occupation by 2045.
2039:
Capital punishment in retreat as major governments begin calling for its complete abolishment. Largest depression in 21 years starts when Russian and Chinese economies simultaneously collapse due to land speculation, rising inflation, unsustainable levels of debt, poor economic growth, demographic problems, loss of land to soil erosion. Leading debt often caused by overspending, little return on assets, and high corruption.
Belarus falls in a revolution heavily funded by the European Union. Russia sends their army, but help from the EU, and Russia's own problems lead to loss of the proxy war and worsening of domestic situation.
2040:
Russia withdraws from East Ukraine and Belarus as mutinies spread and unrest rises. Crimea and East Ukraine admitted to European Union as part of Ukraine as European Union sends military to occupy them. Heatwaves increasingly common. United States and European Union begin extensive economic reform to tackle the depression.
European Union signs several landmark pieces of legislation on integration and forms a standing military service, begins to expand central government. Indian economy now on par with China. Fusion power reactors under construction for first time.
2041:
Revolutionaries spread to Russia via Belarus. Russian government cracks down heavily with major loss of life. EU and USA begin to increase military spending. China likewise begins to crack down heavily on protest movements after a period of relative liberalization. Major universities and business go on strike throughout China. Unemployment rises.
First experimental orbital solar power plant built. European Union and United States separately planning for a manned mission to Mars. Permanent lunar human presence established. Moldova is annexed by Romania.
2042:
Russian government falls to military coup, which is in turn ousted from St Petersburg by mass protest movements. Many of the Federal Republics with Muslim residents declare independence. Russian civil war opens between military junta, democracy movement, islamists, and nationalist groups. Chinese provinces now openly defying central government.
Argentina defies the ban on Antarctic mineral exploration and begins to set up experimental oil rigs and mines along with research stations and naval facilities. Outer part of Antarctic peninsula sees the first trees. Greenland's ice sheets now in major retreat, with mineral exploration also ongoing there.
Global population now stabilizing at 9 billion. Ross sea loses half of its ice cover. White people a minority in the US. Countries now starting to lay claim to and begin to settle Antarctica.
2043:
China begins to fragment. Ethnic groups in the west of the country now declaring independence. Major regions break off and declare themselves independent of obligations to Beijing. North Korean state breaks down into a revolution. Manchuria, Tibet, Xinjiang, Guangxi declare independence.
China now in "serious humanitarian crisis". Open warfare escalates. European Union and United States now largest economies. US population crests 400 million. Millions of Chinese, Korean, and Russian refugees flee to the United States and EU for asylum.
A trans global railway and road infrastructure network now exists, with High-Speed railways now popular as long-distance driving is either automated or goes into decline. United States and European Union begin to diverge and compete.
2044:
The game begins.
Category:RP