In my last post, I noticed a clear trend. I asked a question about how to determine truth and in the beginning people participated in answering that question. But the conversation quickly turned to you know who. The discussion turned bi-polar, either people were condemning Trump or supporting him...."that Trump is terrible look at what he said. Those democrats are terrible look at how they are treating Trump." That sums it up.
This obsession with this one figure limits the understanding of our situation. Sure, he has to be part of the conversation, a main part perhaps, but not all of the conversation. All this fuss about Trump and his rhetoric obscures the true place in which we all find ourselves in. In a way, this is understandable. The election of Trump makes perfect sense. He is the Shiva of our times, a truly transformational figure.
So many speak of truth, truth, truth and believe they are finding it in the political arena and in the media of their choice. Let me just say this as clearly as I can. You won't find truth there. You will not find truth in the realm of spin.
Decanting this down the the most basic, there are two great impulses at work, each working in opposite directions. They will determine if we will move more towards an "open," society or moving towards a "closed" one. The former is the true force and the latter is the reaction.
See, the one really important factor in all this is the technological revolutions we find ourselves in, both in terms of biology and communications. These radical new technologies are opening up human civilization to great change. They are forcing us to face this moment more than anything else.
Of course, the other factor that is moving us towards an open world is the ever-expanding dance of human interaction. European colonialism brought the world together. This current globalization impulse is a continuation of that trend. Short of a great calamity, it is unstoppable.
The old nation-state system is giving way. The internet is the harbinger of a new world. Something new is coming into form, something more like a network than a set of countries. It is an organic evolution that is beyond anyone's power to control.
The more we resist this change the more miserable the transition will be. That is the true challenge.
This obsession with this one figure limits the understanding of our situation. Sure, he has to be part of the conversation, a main part perhaps, but not all of the conversation. All this fuss about Trump and his rhetoric obscures the true place in which we all find ourselves in. In a way, this is understandable. The election of Trump makes perfect sense. He is the Shiva of our times, a truly transformational figure.
So many speak of truth, truth, truth and believe they are finding it in the political arena and in the media of their choice. Let me just say this as clearly as I can. You won't find truth there. You will not find truth in the realm of spin.
Decanting this down the the most basic, there are two great impulses at work, each working in opposite directions. They will determine if we will move more towards an "open," society or moving towards a "closed" one. The former is the true force and the latter is the reaction.
See, the one really important factor in all this is the technological revolutions we find ourselves in, both in terms of biology and communications. These radical new technologies are opening up human civilization to great change. They are forcing us to face this moment more than anything else.
Of course, the other factor that is moving us towards an open world is the ever-expanding dance of human interaction. European colonialism brought the world together. This current globalization impulse is a continuation of that trend. Short of a great calamity, it is unstoppable.
The old nation-state system is giving way. The internet is the harbinger of a new world. Something new is coming into form, something more like a network than a set of countries. It is an organic evolution that is beyond anyone's power to control.
The more we resist this change the more miserable the transition will be. That is the true challenge.
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