It's 2050. It's pretty good here. Definitely better than where you are, from what I recall. People around the world have set aside all those outmoded tyrannies, and now things like dictatorships are incredibly rare. Not like your times, when they're ten-a-penny. These days nations seem to behave a bit more reasonably, since their old hostilities have given way to a more trusting atmosphere.
If I had to give a reason for this fraternity we've enjoyed for the last few years, I'd probably have to point to the Oil Crisis. The crisis being that there was none left. I remember how shocked everyone was! They'd been saying the oil would run out in 20 years since the '50s, so it was a bit like the boy who cried wolf.
Either way, the oil running out really made a mess of things for a few decades, but the worst of it's well behind us now. Like I said, the main thing about the Oil Crisis is that it brought the world together. It was such an all-encompassing disaster, and during those painful first few years nations reached out to support one another. Tyrannies, on the whole, couldn't sustain the pressure and collapsed. Popular democracy spread in their wake.
I recall that there was growing agitation for Democratic reform even before the crisis, but the turmoil of the following years was definitely the spur it needed to bring about such a rapid transformation. It wasn't a comfortable process, but you can't argue with the results.
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Oil Rig Maintenance, Ken Hodge.
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