KINGSTON, NY, 31 July 2012 — In my 32 years of forecasting trends, never have I been more troubled about what’s going on in the world today and where the future is heading.

I’ve had premonitions before, which were borne out by events. But only once before in my lifetime have I had a premonition as powerful as this. That first premonition came 10 months before 9/11, when I forecast in my Top Trends for 2001 that Americans wouldn’t be safe at home or abroad.

On 14 December 2000, USA Today, covering my forecasts, ran this headline: “2001 will not be our year, trend seer says” and began the story with this warning, “Get ready America. If a trendmeister’s predictions are on target, 2001 will be no walk in the park.”

Now, in July of 2012, what I see ahead is even more troubling than what I foresaw back then. The “what to expect,” “why it will happen,” and “what to do about it” are all spelled out in the Summer issue of The Trends Journal.