Dr. John Barkdull, Texas Tech University Emeritus, taught Political Science at Texas Tech University, established the Global Studies program, taught two years as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the US Air Force Academy and was a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. His most recent book is “Confronting Climate Change.” The United Nations has been in the forefront of combating the climate crisis in a multitude of ways, such as the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, the IPCC, the UN Paris Agreement, the SDGs and the UNFCC, just as examples. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is warning the globe is suffering from global boiling.” Scientists and governments proffered they might control the rapidly rising temperatures through adaptation, mitigation and transformation. If the world is unable to adapt more quickly, it may have to confront Deep Adaptation which is the collapse of the global civilization.

Jerry Glenn is a futurist who serves as the executive director of the Millennium Project. He authors an annual publication titled, “State of the Future.” He was the executive director of the American Council for the United Nations University and the deputy director of Partnership for Productivity International. He was also a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1968 to 1970. The Millennium Project is focused on the future and the myriad of challenges and resources available to deal with these challenges. A key challenge is to manage expectations of the Artificial General Intelligence, which is different from the narrow AI of today. AGI can address novel problems with unique solutions and act immediately. The third type of AI is the Super AI . As it has done in mobilizing the world to battle climate change, The UN will be a major player in understanding and regulating this unknown Super AI resource.

Thom Hartmann is an American radio personality, author, former psychotherapist, businessman, and progressive political commentator, whose talk show has been rated in the top 10 shows for over a decade by Talkers Magazine. His most recent book is “The Hidden History of the American Dream?” America, primarily thanks to FDR and unionization, was a catapult for the middle class until the early 1980s. The Reagan influence of Neoliberal economics contributed to the decentralization of regulations, race to the bottom, union busting and globalization for cheaper wages. The National Relations Labor Act legalizing unions was some of the most substantive legislation supported by FDR. Five suggestions to reactivate the American Dream: 1) encourage unionization and National Labor Relations Act; 2: raise top income bracket for the rich; 3) raise top corporate income tax to reduce bogus tax deductions; 4) reestablish inheritance tax; and, 5) guarantee social safety movement with health insurance.