2026 Aladdin's Magic Lamp

Aladdin's magic lamp is one of the more popular stories from "Tales of the Arabian Nights". However, if one were to read the original story he or she will be surprised to know the elaborate plot was more than just about Aladdin finding the lamp, rubbing it and out came the genie that granted him three wishes. 

And, of course, all the stories we hear now are the funny ones about three wishes  allowed the finder of the lamp.

But hardly has anyone wondered why these popular stories are all about a man or young boy finding the lamp and granted three wishes and not by a young girl or woman. By the way, the original story does not impose any limits on the number of wishes. So, let's speculate on how the story would unfold if a modern woman finds the lamp.

But first this.  This has been around for quite some time now.  This one I embellished for a bit.

A political adviser to the lady senator from Hawaii found  the lamp on a  beach in  that state one day.  As he was wiping away the sand from the lamp, blue smoke came out and a genie appeared.

Genie: Sire, thank you for freeing me from a thousand years of bondage inside the lamp.  I therefore grant you whatever you wish for.

Man: I work for the lady senator from Hawaii so I express her wish.

Genie: Go ahead, Sire.

Man: She wants a bridge from Hawaii to the mainland so she can travel in her electric car.  Oh, and add to that an electric charging station every 250 miles.

Genie:  But sire, that is impossible!  Do you know the engineering challenges involved? Construction equipment that has not been invented yet will be needed and dealing with the ocean in all kinds of weather and special metallurgy for the long span of the bridge will bring the cost to stratospheric heights. Providing the charging stations with electricity every 250 miles, who knows how many will be needed,  is definitely a pie-in-the- sky ambition.  And labor and so many other factors we need to consider.  Sire, please ask me another.

Man:  Okay, okay. The woman senator I already mentioned.  I'm married to a woman.  So, here's my wish.  I want to understand what my boss thinks and why and how she comes up with her ideas.  And likewise, I too want to understand what my wife is thinking at all times and how she generally goes about her thought processes and predict every which way she changes her mind. In other words I want to understand what a woman is thinking.

The genie after a little bit of thinking, stroking his bearded chin for a bit, replied ..

Genie: Do you want that bridge to have two or four lanes?

(My sincere apologies to all the women.  But if you must know, the  idea for the punchline was the genie's all along).

Okay,  let's have a better story not once you've heard before till now.

Genie in Suburbia

A couple had just bought an old house in the suburbs.  While the husband was away at work, the stay-at-home wife went up the attic to check for more storage space. In one corner she found a dusty sack cloth. When she opened it, there was a lamp. She was wiping it off to see the intricate design that adorned the girth of the lamp's body when smoke came out and a genie appeared.

Genie: Don't be scared my lady.  I am a genie and I am  grateful for giving me back my freedom after years of imprisonment.  I grant you three wishes.

Wife: You scared me but I'm okay now.  Three wishes, huh?

Genie: Yes, my lady.

Wife: I wish my husband will do more in taking care of household chores. I want him to take the trash out without me reminding him each time. He can load the dishwasher from time to time. Perhaps help with laundry too. Oh, on the way home I wish he'd pick up some groceries along with stuff from the cleaners. And is it too much to ask that perhaps he'll do the cooking on weekends. Yard work should not take him all day, right?

Genie: Forgive me for asking, my lady. Shouldn't you wish for more money? More money than you could ever imagine?  Just think, my lady, you can hire a maid or two, a butler to maybe  do the grocery shopping and pick up the laundry too, and hire someone to do the yard work.  With money you can hire all the help you need?

Wife: And just so my husband can watch TV before dinner and watch more TV after and live sports all night?  No! He can't be doing those. And trash had to be by the curb every Tuesday and Friday morning. And on weekends, what will he do?  No, just grant me what I wish for.

Genie: It's your call my lady.

An hour later the wife was in their upstairs bedroom. She was sitting in front of a mirror. In the middle of fixing her hair and make-up she stopped to think whether she just had a daydream in the attic.  If it was real, did she make the right choice? At that precise moment she heard sounds of the  door that connected the garage to the kitchen open and shut.

Husband:  Honey, I'm home! I got the groceries and I just stopped by the dry cleaner's.  What do you feel like for dinner?

The wife looked intently at the mirror once more, then she smiled, followed by a really wide almost mischievous grin, and yelled back ..

Wife: Surprise me!

Genie in Rural America

This nineteen year-old girl lived in a sparsely populated town somewhere in rural America.  She had just slopped the pigs, collected the eggs from the hen house and was about to prepare dinner. Her mom and dad had been trying their best  to marry her off.  There were no takers from a limited number of bachelors in the small town. She's not pretty but not ugly either.  Just a simple face and a moderate stature of 5 foot 4. Not overweight, besides she does all the work that keeps her in good shape.

She went out to the back of the house to pick some leafy greens and tomatoes. She pulled out a head of lettuce when from the hollowed out soil she caught something that glistened. She pulled the whole thing out.  It was an old lamp.  She was peeling the soil crust around the lamp when smoke came out and a genie appeared.

Genie:  Thank you, thank you, my lady.  You may wish for anything and I will grant it.

Girl: You don't scare me. I've seen men dressed more weirdly than you and uglier too.  What do you want?

Genie: You don't understand.  Tell me what you want and I will grant it.

Girl: Oh yeah? Well, I want all the young single men from the whole county to want me like bees want honey.  Or, like a pack of wolves over a freshly killed deer.

Genie:  Slow down, slow down young lady.  Wouldn't you want to be the most beautiful woman in the world - to be desired by all the men from around the globe?

The genie, from out of the blue, produced a pad and pencil and with quick strokes drew something on it.

Genie: Here, my lady.  I did a hurried sketch of what you could look like, if you let me grant it.  You can look like this with all the fine clothes and jewelry you want.

The young lady took one quick look and said ..

Girl: No.  I want all the young men to like me as I am now.

Genie: But my lady, you don't even have nice clothes and make-up.  How do you expect  men to like you?

Girl:  I want them to be lining up from the fence line to our door, wanting to want me and marry me as I look now.

Genie: But, my lady..

Girl: Any self-respecting genie will grant me what I wish for.  That or you are back inside the lamp.  And I wish it so.

Poof! The blue smoke and the genie disappeared into the lamp. 

The young lady went back inside.  Her mom was sewing.  Her dad looked away from the paper he was reading.

Dad: Were you talking to somebody in the back of the house?

Girl: Yeah, some guy stopped by the back fence.

Dad:  Really? What did he want? Will he come by the front door next time?  Maybe later in the week, perhaps?

Girl: No, I don't think so.

Mom: Why dear?

Girl: Oh, he was just blowing smoke up my you-know-what.

Mom: That's not very nice to say dear.

Girl:  It's true, mother.  

Father:  That's okay, dear.  You're still young. 

The young girl proceeded to wash the veggies and started preparing dinner.

 

In the entire history of genie lore, this was the first time that a genie was rejected by the finder.  By the way, what the young lady said about "blowing smoke up my-you-know-what" actually had a life saving origin.

Historical Context:

"The expression likely dates back to the 19th century.

It refers to a method used in medicine where smoke was blown into the rectum, supposedly to revive drowning victims or treat ailments".

Later, losing its use or effectiveness perhaps because it really didn't work, the expression simply became, "It is often used in informal contexts to indicate that someone is being misled or manipulated".

I own up to writing the second and third stories to make amends for the first story about the lady senator and I hope they have more than made up for my version of the first story where I took so much liberty at embellishing it at the expense of the  senator and all the  female readers.

A Spider's Spiritual Theory

Two descendants of spiders whose ancestors met several generations ago got together in one unlikely place. Keep in mind a generation for spiders simply means about two years compared to about twenty five for humans. The Pholcus phalangioides and Argiope trifasciata, both obviously from different species, have co-evolved the same way that their ancestors who met years ago. The descendants have kept up with each other although their development in intelligence and view of the world remained divergently different.  Pholcus phalangioides proved to be more attuned to human culture and behavior than Argiope trifasciata. The latter was naturally respectful of the former's status. For clarity, let's identify them as, Pholcus phalangioides 3 and Argiope trifasciata 3. 

Just as it was years ago, I cannot reveal how I came across the transcript of their conversation.  The two got together in a closet of the narthex of a church. In the olden days the narthex was that part of the vestibule of a church close to the  entrance reserved for the unbaptized. This was a moderately-sized church with ample membership to match.

The following is a transcript of a conversation between the resident spider, a Pholcus phalangioides and and a visiting Argiope trifasciata.

Transcript (01/08/26):

Argiope trifasciata 3: Well, well, this is quite a place you picked to settle in. 

Pholcus phalangioides 3: To be honest, I really like the place. It is structurally safe as you can imagine and when the weather's nice I have easy access to the outside where I hunt for a variety of prey. And then when the weather is bad, prey will come inside to take shelter and I have  wide choices too.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Yes, indeed. I have a few questions though. Humans come here to worship, right? So, do you have any idea what it is all about.  Forgive me to be asking this question.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: That's funny that you use the word forgive. Yeah, well, this is in fact the place humans come to ask for forgiveness. Not in the same context that you used it. So, what is it you want to know? Your ancestors did always ask about human behavior.

Argiope trifasciata 3: : Well, I'm curious about what it is they worship about? I mean, humans are much too superior in intelligence compared to us, no offense, even compared to you, right?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: You really think so?  That they're more intelligent compared to whom?  Or, as you  conjectured,  more intelligent than my species, is that what you meant?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Remember, I said no offense, okay?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: This is really a very interesting place to live in, if you can stand long periods of uninterrupted silence on  most days.  Then it gets really loud on one day a week. And every now and then there would be special days for weddings and funerals. We'll not get into that because if I surmise correctly you are thinking about something else. Isn't that right?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Yeah. I'd like to know what it is about worship and praying and hoping that they do. Let's just focus on those.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Well, weddings and funerals are special occasions too. But not to be diminished are baptism and other rituals. Humans have special affinity to hope, faith and everything beyond what we see as the physical world.

Argiope trifasciata 3: You mean, things not seen but perceived to be real or true.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Simply put, yes. But it's more than that.  Let's  go back up to something our ancestors, yours and mine, had been discussing a while back.

Argiope trifasciata 3: What was it?

Pholcus phalangioides 3:Humans spent years and billions of their dollars to develop a system they call LIGO that can detect gravity waves.  My species of spiders had been detecting it for thousands of years before humans developed their first telegraph.  Actually, gravity waves when they come to earth are a source of annoyance to our senses. Sometimes, if the gravity waves are too strong our brains feel severe irritations.

Argiope trifasciata 3: But my species doesn't have that ability, right?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Yes.  You'll know it if you have the ability.  

Argiope trifasciata 3: So, what has that got to do with my original question.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Let me show you something from outside this closet. This big area is called the nave of the church. Look at the stained glass from both sides. Do you notice the theme of three separate or distinct parts in each window panel?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Yeah, I see the pattern of three.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: It is called the Holy Trinity. You asked about what it is they worship. And why, perhaps? Well, the Trinity stands for God, the Creator, The Son and The Holy Ghost or Spirit.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Wow, it is already too much to take in one gulp. I see symbols ...

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Now, look. Have you ever wondered how you came to be?  How did this world you and I live in first begin? Do you consider yourself a creature?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Well, yes.  Every living animal is a creature, right?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Yes.  All right, so if you and I, a mouse a caterpillar, and so on and on are creatures then there must be a creator, you agree?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Well, I will accept that for now.  So there was a creator.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Still is. The Creator still exists today.

Argiope trifasciata 3: And the Son and the Holy Ghost?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Okay, here it is.  Man, representing all humans, is the apex of the Creator's masterpiece. However, humans are not exactly good or consistently possess proper morality and they are not perfect stewards of the world's environment we live in - the planet earth being that world. The Son in the Trinity is  the human manifestation, made of flesh and blood, like you and me, of the Creator God.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Why?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: It is believed, the way humans understand it, that the Son, during that time that he lived among ordinary humans was to prove that humans are capable of possessing qualities of goodness - total and pure manifestations of morality - if they worship and believe in one true God. 

Argiope trifasciata 3: Wow.  Really, really wow. Let me accept those for the moment.  What about the third one - the Holy Ghost or Spirit?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: That is why I mentioned gravity waves earlier.  But first this. You and I are gifted with eight eyes.  We see because we detect light waves, just as humans and other creatures can. But you know what, we can also detect ultraviolet and polarized light that no humans are capable of.  I already mentioned gravity waves and our highly enhanced motion detection abilities.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Okay, okay.  What has that got to do with the Holy Ghost?

Pholcus phalangioides 3: You are so impatient.  I am giving you as much background so you can grasp  what I am leading to. 

Argiope trifasciata 3: Sorry, go on please.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Sound travels through the air.  Without air, as is the case in outer space or in a vacuum, sound cannot propagate from its source. Ocean waves travel through water. If you fall on a still pond you will create waves the moment you hit the water, spreading the energy of your impact.  Even on land waves travel during earthquakes and the up and down motion is visible as it travels on the ground.  The waves in every case I just mentioned are actually energy traveling on and over a field of water, air and ground. Remove the field and wave energy cannot travel. Now, in the case of gravity waves the energy that produces it is unimaginably stronger than what the sun produces in its lifetime.  Two massive objects collide in a massive explosion.  The energy causes massive waves to propagate over space time. Let's not get what space time is  but it is real. A massive object causes it to curve so that smaller objects will be forced to follow that curve.  That is what gravity is.  That is why you and I are on the ground right now - gravity.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Wait, wait, this is just all too much for me.  Slow down, please.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Listen. What I'm saying is that a field is needed, actually required, in order for wave energy to travel.  Air is a field so sound can travel through it. Magnets act on a piece of iron without touching it because there exists a magnetic field for the attraction to have its effect. I can see you because light is reflected from you to me. Light through the window glass comes to us as energy.  You know what light travels on? An electromagnetic field. Light travels through space from the moon, from the sun and stars, through a field. Actually, no matter how empty a vacuum is, a field exists.  The entire universe is a field.

Argiope trifasciata 3: I wish you would slow down. So, there's field everywhere but why can't sound travel in a vacuum? 

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Good question actually.  I'm proud of you.  Specific energy waves are tuned, so to speak, to specific fields. And, mark this, because this is important.  This is also about specific detectors such as the ears and eyes of most creatures that have the ability to sense different waves. Like I mentioned earlier, we - you and I - can detect ultraviolet energy waves through our special set of eight eyes that humans can't.  Pigeons, salmon and other creatures can detect the earth's magnetic fields.  Again, humans can't.

Argiope trifasciata 3: This is just too much.  Can you at least get to the question I asked earlier.

Pholcus phalangioides 3: Okay, I think I have given you enough background.

Argiope trifasciata 3: It'll take me time to really absorb, let alone understand all of them, but please go on.

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Humans are special creatures, you see.  I've been in this church for so long that after repeated quotes the minister reads from their Holy Book - the Bible - I've memorized many of the texts. There is one that explains the special place reserved for humans, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27".

Argiope trifasciata 3: Okay, again that explains just the two of the three. What about the Holy Ghost or Spirit?

Pholcus phalangioides 3 I am trying to explain it to you slowly but deliberately, okay? I needed to explain human's special place in creation. They have consciousness and as a whole it becomes what is described as the human collective consciousness. Collective consciousness exists in a field.  Now, set your mind back to fields as I explained earlier.

Argiope trifasciata 3: I got it. Okay, go on.

Pholcus phalangioides 3 The Holy Ghost or Spirit works in that field that is supposed to connect God's intentions and plans for humanity - through that field. You see, consciousness is meant to live through and beyond their physical lives. Again, let me remind you of how I explained the different fields, okay? Every human being, upon death, ends their physical existence but continue on as a stream of consciousness. Consciousness continues to live on in that same field where the Holy Spirit exists. 

Argiope trifasciata 3: Yeah, I got it.  Sort of, I guess.

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Now, connect God, The Son and The Holy Ghost. Do you see it?

Argiope trifasciata 3: Yeah, but don't you see how complicated that is.

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Not complicated.  It is just a complex idea.

Argiope trifasciata 3: I should have asked this early on.  How do you know all of these?

Pholcus phalangioides 3 That I cannot explain.  It just came to me.  I guess from spending a lot of time here.

Argiope trifasciata 3: What else do I need to know?

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Remember, I said earlier that the entire universe is a field? Streams of consciousness could be, as we speak, flow back and forth, making connections and every now and then some  are received as insights, inspirations, even as gut instincts, unexplained premonitions among sensitive humans, perhaps gifted with special sensitivities. I don't know that for sure because you and I have no access to human streams of consciousness but the Creator does.

Argiope trifasciata 3: I can't stop saying, wow!

Pholcus phalangioides 3 On the other hand that is exactly how it explains an All Knowing God.  You know where I got that idea? From a spider's web.

Argiope trifasciata 3: How?

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Many of our species make elaborate spider webs.  Some as wide as a huge umbrella. The spider at the center of the web knows everything that that happens within the web, what touches it whether it is a leaf, a breeze or a struggling prey. A slight movement anywhere on the web the spider knows instantly. The universe is one unimaginable web - an infinite field - where everything that happens is revealed to The Creator in an instant.  That is how I would explain it.

Argiope trifasciata 3: Wow and wow!  Well, I must go.  This has been an interesting visit.  Thank you. I will not remember everything but maybe the field will stay with me. 

Pholcus phalangioides 3 Thanks for visiting. And indeed, please remember that God knows everything through that field.

P.S.

The idea of the "field" is a real scientific phenomenon and well enhanced through the principles described by quantum mechanics, as in quantum field theory, that define the very nature of matter. Now, we already know how the electromagnetic field makes possible the internet, how our cell phones can be tracked, how satellite navigation is possible with our cars and cell phones, how images are transmitted via TV, and so many others that include MRI, cat scans and how ultimately AI can be harnessed to "know everything". Of course, it will not. The detection of gravity waves is not only real but that it proved what Einstein predicted through his theories long before we had satellites and radio telescopes.

The human intellect is perhaps how it will be possible to live up to being created in the image that God will allow us to aspire for.  Perhaps, and indeed humanity will be able to live up to God's expectations of achieving a perfect moral character and the pinnacle of goodness.

Oh, and the one not supported by scientific proof is the idea that our spider-character can detect gravity waves.

I hope I have inspired some of the readers to look up and do a little research on fields as defined by field theory and gravity waves, for starter.  Actually, YouTube is a good source for touching lightly on those subjects without going too much "into the weeds".  Remember, your router at home creates a field that makes possible how your wireless printer works, your own cell phone, even without a Sim card, still works with the exception of the ability to call or receive phone calls.  However, it will work with Messenger (if you have a Facebook account).  Your router created a field for these things to work.

From the first moments when our ancestors started asking questions to the moments of discovery and creating the kind of technology we enjoy and and marvel at today, man is approaching but not quite the potential to know everything.  Not quite because until such time, whenever that is, when man has at last lived up to that promise, complete knowledge to understand everything will not be achieved. 

  

2026: The Good, The ..

2026 not only ushers in a new year, it is a portal to things only imagined and dreamt by those who lived in the not too distant past; however, it is also fraught with dreadful anticipation. Indeed we will be witnessing what was the future of those who lived generations past and anticipated by those  from a decade ago or less who marveled at what more humanity can and will have after 2025.  2026 is like no other year for two main reasons.  (1) Artificial Intelligence (AI) will  really begin to throw its weight around but it will be a very powerful and almost unstoppable double edged sword with unpredictable ramifications. (2) The potential for world conflicts is gathering momentum that may have reached a point of inevitability although it might not be for at least another decade or so, a conflagration not yet lit but there is enough kindling in likely places. 2026 could be a sign post from which such a trajectory may begin.

And so we look at "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in 2026

The Good

There will be a lot of progress in technology.  Businesses and commerce will  obviously benefit from more AI.  The world of medicine will see AI applications in diagnosing diseases (already it does a better job of reading radiology reports and detecting cancer) it will speed up the development and testing of new drugs. Spread of diseases, including global pandemics, can be detected sooner and managed with more effective responses.  

Manufacturing and quality control will be enhanced several fold. Weather forecasts will have better than 50-50 prediction results and range.  These are merely tips of the iceberg on the scope and reach of AI.

Communication technology, travel, crop management, food distribution will rely more on AI.  However, there is too the possibility of an AI bubble going too fast and too big it could burst from its own weight and over promises.

More fantastic science fiction predictions are coming.  We've seen  past predictions from Jules Vern's submarine in "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and from "The Earth To The Moon" that became realities and now Star Trek's instant language translations and Isaac Asimov's robots, etc.  There will be more from science fiction writers' imaginations that are yet to become realities. 2026 will draw the curtains even wider.

There will be a lot of other good news but AI will predominate.  One great news is that, hopefully, the wake up call will be loud and clear on the issues of human conflict and will be heeded in time.  That's one good news the world can hope and pray for.

The Bad

The other side of AI's double edge blade will also manifest itself. We can only hope that it will not be in the same equal dosage as the good that will come out of AI's pre-eminent influence.  Will AI make people dumber? Not. if managed properly.  After all, the same was predicted when computers first came around.  Many psychologists, however, warn about the pernicious reach and scope of the deleterious effects AI may have on young minds.  Already teenagers and young adults fall into emotional, even psychological relationships with AI entities. High school students may no longer read entire books or write their own papers.  Social media addiction will seem to grow unabated.

We hope not but this could be the first time that technology may have potential to leach into the human psyche to permanently have an enduring but dangerous ill effects. We already see AI's reach into the criminal mind. Fraud and still unrealized scope of criminality that could come from AI will increase.

Politics' bad image and influence will be far flung and thoroughly pervasive in unprecedented levels as to be irretrievably beyond repair.  We might see erosion in political discourse to a level unparalleled in history.

The Ugly

Beginning this year, projections for population growth from 2026 to 2100 indicate the apex to reach 10 billion people.

Population growth will be one of the top concerns beginning in 2026.  It will affect food production and availability that will not just be a concern for third world countries but a direct pressure on the developed nations that will include a huge immigration burden. Famine and a far more serious possibility of pandemic will shape geopolitics. 

AI in military armaments and the pervasive use of more sophisticated drone technology will make war making decisions by political and military leaders a lot less personal. The slippery slope is going to be a lot steeper and almost impossible to stop once it starts.

2026 will become a stage for many plots and drama of many acts that will make the proverbial theater of war far wider than it had ever been. There is a stage play around Asia where the lead actor is China. Japan, India and other Pacific countries comprise the other players that will extend the area of instability.  Australia and the U.S. will be drawn into the widening theater, reluctantly at first and by necessity later.

Friction between western and eastern Europe  will heat up even more if the Russian/Ukraine conflict is not resolved. So much blood has already been spilled while bad blood could be near the boiling point between the two European divide.  Lest we forget both major world wars I & II ravaged the entire continent that spread in many parts around the world.

Let us not forget the tension building up in the American continent.

The (Intriguingly) Beautiful

As far as geopolitical strategies are concerned and depending on which side of the international intrigue one is aligned with, the latest breaking news in Venezuela is either a beautifully maneuvered move by the U.S. government or blatant military adventurism and regime change in the eyes of the other world leaders and domestic politicians.

Let's just examine the side from the U.S. perspective because that is the only view that we can see clearly.  It is not just so much as drug trafficking elevated to narco-terrorism that the Venezuelan dictatorship is accused of but that a host of other tethered group of player-nations could conceivably unravel as a result of events that just transpired.

The U.S. action may have the equivalence of "casting one stone to get multiple birds". That is perhaps what it hopes to achieve. If successful, it will be one intriguingly beautiful strategy. But it is also one fraught with many ill defined scenarios.

1) Venezuela - The IMF's estimated inflation rate for Venezuela this year is 270%. How can a country of just under 30 million people with oil reserve that rivals if not exceeds Saudi Arabia's suffer economically. It is a failed socialist state with very little hope of recovery.  Only a major change in how it manages itself will reverse the downward trajectory. 

2) Cuba - will be the first and most directly  affected Caribbean country as a result of Venezuela's predicament.  Cuba is solely dependent on oil coming from Venezuela. Once that spigot is shut Cuba's already depressed socialist economy will plummet even more.  Besides, it is likely due for a correction reversal to undo the ill effects of the 1952-55 revolution.

3) Iran - is another country about to suffer a reversal of the 1979 upheaval. One other oil-producing state that failed to reach the level of economic comfort enjoyed by other oil producers like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brunei, etc. Recently, demonstrations are approaching the levels of the 1979 uprising that brought the Ayatollah to power.  Iran is linked to Venezuela because it has provided the means to cut Venezuela's highly viscous but high quality crude oil with its lighter material.

4) China - It has been slowly but methodically making successful economic and ideological incursions into S. America with cash loans and purchases of raw material, not the least of which is Venezuelan oil.

"A Venezuela-Iran-China energy axis in the viewfinder as Venezuelan oil has become a strategic point of convergence between China and Iran". 

5) Russia - It is, of course, the other oil producing player that needed to be added to the mix. However, it too must be concerned with its own domestic pressures as it continues to be mired in the war with Ukraine where its mounting casualties and internal economy both conspire to its instability.  It must be concerned at the potential for unrest as its population could be encouraged or inspired by movements from abroad. A kind of revolution not too dissimilar to that which occurred in 1917 cannot be ruled out.  Oligarchy that is rampant today glaringly mirrors the Romanov dynasty.

Debatable conjectures perhaps but not outlandishly improbable.  We'll see as the year progresses.