By 2018 Japanese, Chinese, and Russian investors start to cash in on the huge national debt of the USA. Because the US Govt has spent on deficit for so long, nobody wants to buy their G-bonds any more, instead US starts to privatize its public land and sell parcels to foreign investors.

California and Texas have broken free from the Union. Spanish is now the first official language of most of the southern states of the USA. All the so called "illegal immigrants" have been granted some sort of "amnesty".

American schools have failed its students miserably. Social security promises cannot be kept. Cost of health care and all failed reforms have caused millions of uninsured and uneducated and unemployed people to seek better future in the south and north. Canada starts to limit illegal immigration from the USA.

South American countries have united and most of them are running some kind of socialistic systems. Cuba has come closer to market economy and its citizens gain more and more freedoms each year. Since the death of Fidel Castro, Raul has failed to be the next true leader, and the CP has no other rising stars.

Japanese genetical engineers combined their efforts with the Chinese, Koren and Indian, where they can now safely control the number of childern, the sex of the child. All countries of the earth have adopted 1.5 children policy, where national lotteries give extra child to those who can affort them (read by enough lottery tickets).