What does 2026 hold?
I had the fortune of having a "Christmas break" - which left me some time to think about what 2026 will hold. I made 3 observations that I feel are solid enough to actually write down. Here we go:
1. Right-leaning culture?
I have been thinking about this throughout 2025, ever since Trump was inaugurated. It seems like ever since the US election everyone "in power" (broadly speaking... whatever that means) has been shifting their messaging to trying to culturally align with the new president. One example I saw a YouTuber mention was how Mark Zuckerberg went on Joe Rogan with a gold chain and talked about masculinity, which is a quite funny shift for him. This has basically lead to a shift in how the entire "west" relates to what has over the last 15-20 years been seen as right-leaning topics.
Here in Europe the political trend has been strong for the past couple of years. Political parties like the Sweden Democrats, AfD, and Ukip/Reform have gained a lot of traction in traditionally "socially liberal" countries. And now with the cultural trend towards the right, I don't see this stopping.
My prediction: In 2026 (but more likely further in to the future), several of these populist parties will be in power. But they will discover that the reality is stubborn. Just as Trump learned, it's easy to write executive orders to get immediate action, but it will probably not make any lasting change - like Trump and all these European right-leaning parties claim they want to make. In short: voters might get their "new right", but not the actual change they hope for.
2. The year of the Linux desktop
Every year I get the bright idea to start dual-booting some kind of Linux-distro to more efficiently do some gaming, and get away from the Windows-bloat. Ever since Windows 8 I have lost all interest in the Windows-ecosystem. Why should I care about a corporation and their OS, which in no way seem to care about me? A tale old as time for tech nerds out there: Linux is the answer!
My "prediction": But maybe this time it will be for real, with the upcoming release of the Steam Machine/Box/Computer, are we seeing a possible shift from gamers? Could Valves efforts to make games run on Linux using Proton be a success? We will see. But if so is the case, I think the tides will turn, since todays gamers are tomorrows software-using tech-workers we just might make the meme a reality.
3. The financial bottom - Are we there yet?
When I visited family in Västerås over Christmas, I clicked around on the municipal housing company's website, and I found something interesting. Almost every apartment listed were "first come, first serve". No queueing-points were required, just call them up and you'll get the contract. This is not the norm even for "small" Västerås, ususally there are a couple of points-free apartments in the less reputable areas, but now everything is up for grabs.
- 5 rooms, 126 sqm: 18k sek/month: No points
- 3 rooms, 84 sqm: 14k sek/month: No points
- 1 room, 38 sqm: 4k sek/month: No points
What does this say about the financial situation? I have no clue, but it surely is unprecedented in all of the years I have been looking for rental apartments.
My prediction: This actually says something about the economic state of Sweden. No-one can afford to move right now in Västerås, which means it must be happening elsewhere as well. Or maybe there are just local events transpiring that I'm unaware about, since I don't live there anymore.
Let us see what 2026 brings!
2026-01-07