A Look at Your Life Ten Years from Now — Your World in 1965

These estimates are not fanciful theories; they are the result of a scientific study made by the famous economist Cherne, director of the American research institute. As for the occasion of this study: twelve years ago, just after the Second World War, Cherne published a book entitled "The Rest of Your Life," in which he foretold what living in America would come to after the war; and strangely enough, 74% of his predictions came true — which is what led "Coronet" magazine now to put to him the question we are about to answer. It is worth mentioning that Cherne's institute spends six million dollars a year on its researches and studies. We are dealing, then, with a scientific study, parts of which will shock you and parts of which will gladden your heart; but it will doubtless help you to order your life for this predicted future, and its application to our own lives in the Arab countries will hold in the proportion that our way of living approaches that of the American people. — What, then, is your world in the year 1965?

The standard of living: Your standard of living will rise beyond anything you dream of; even if you are a factory worker, you will work only four days a week. The sun, most probably, will warm your house and light it. Cooling will be as widespread in homes as heating is today. Most houses will be bought ready-made; furniture will by its nature be light in weight and easy to use, and "plastic" will be much used in making it.

In most houses the sitting room, dining room, and kitchen will be united in one general room — at the pressing of certain buttons the shape of the room changes according to need — and the kitchen will shrink as cooking shrinks and nourishing cereals spread. As for housework, it will be asked of the household itself, and every electrical and automatic convenience will be at hand.

Conditions of work and wages: Your income is expected to rise 20% above what it is now. The proportion of those drawing pensions, or unemployment compensation, will grow. You will more probably work outside the cities, especially if you work in electrical or chemical plants or in yards for building aircraft — these will have priority in industry. And if you are a secretary or a clerk, you will need special training on the many automatic machines. It will be easier for you to deal with your manager, for he will not be the stern employer you know now, since most companies will have become joint-stock concerns.. And so unions and federations will spread among all classes of workers for the defense of their rights.

The state of health: Your savings will increase 2% over the 7% that the American family puts by today; as for income taxes, their increase will be at the rate of 20% or more, for life in America in 1965 will know flourishing and prosperity, and you will pay the price of everything you buy "by installments."

Would you like to know what your life will be like ten years from today? • You will work only four days a week • Drugs against tuberculosis will come into general use • One child in every ten will spend a period in a mental hospital • The world will pass through a second crisis, though not one dangerous to humanity • One marriage in every three will end in divorce • You will fly from New York to London in five hours ......

Our young people will grow taller, thanks to nourishing food and a well-planned athletic life.

But you will become prone to nervous and emotional ailments, the result of a noisy, fast, and complicated life... These will cause many cases of asthma, allergy, ulcers, weakness of the heart, and pains of the stomach.

And it is expected that one child in every ten will spend some time in a hospital for mental diseases..

The family: The family of 1965 will be larger in number, and marriage will come earlier, so that the average marrying age will be nineteen for the girl and twenty-two for the young men, whereas today it averages 21 and 24. — And it is reckoned that the population of the United States will by then be 188 million.

Movement and travel: 81 million automobiles will travel the roads of America, where today they number no more than 59 million — and you will be able to use extracts of coal or of vegetables as fuel for your car, and this will cost you a third of what gasoline costs you today. In 1965 people will use two kinds of cars: the first for inside the cities — and this will be five feet shorter than the present Ford and Chevrolet; and the second for outside the cities — and this will be bigger, faster, and better assured of comfort than today's car.

Travel across countries will increase, so that most people will visit Europe, for instance, since five hours will be enough to carry you from New York to London, and airplanes driven by nuclear power will come into general use. — And in 1975, 200 travelers will be able to cross the distance between New York and London in three hours, at a speed of 1,200 miles an hour! Flying saucers will be used for the short distances, holding 100 passengers at a speed of 600 miles an hour.

Recreation: Your recreation will be confined within the circle of your home. You will probably possess by that day two television sets in natural colors, of which no one set will cost more than 300 dollars, paid off in installments..

And it will be within your power to buy a radio the size of a watch, worn around your wrist, which you will purchase for 25 dollars at the smallest shop along the road!

Health: Your life will be longer than it is today. The average age of a man will become seventy years, and the average age of a woman seventy-five.

Your children will obtain a higher education than your own; and yet the number of the mentally handicapped and of delinquents will grow... One marriage in every three will end in divorce, the loosening of family bonds will increase, and the faithfulness of husbands and wives to one another will dwindle.

The world: In the year 1965 it is hoped that the use of nuclear power for peaceful ends, industrial and agricultural, will become general — and beyond that, atomic energy will be turned to account for preserving foods, for the durability of textiles and of metal, for sterilization, and so on..

And the attention of scientists will turn to profiting from the light of the sun for lighting and heat, and its effect on your life will exceed that of atomic energy itself!

Scientists will discover new uses for wood, steel, and aluminum; trees will be injected with a kind of hormone that doubles the speed of their growth, and certain rays and chemical substances will be applied to them so that they gain in hardness and in resistance to fire — indeed it will even become possible to give a tree one particular color rather than another!

As for the first trip to the moon, it will not take place before 1975 — before that there will be attempts and nothing more.

And the most important event that the year 1965 will record is the end of world wars, in submission to the authority of the leaders who guide the world, and for fear of the extinction of humanity and the annihilation of the universe.

Note: It remains for you, dear reader, to keep this article, so that you may come back to it in 1965 and see which of its predictions came true and which did not!