The world is in turmoil – and has been. Today’s answer has been to hand out ears and hugs. Don’t take that literally. Ears were for listening. Hugs were for sharing. For those with the capacity, conversations were handy. Thanks to all for sharing. One conversation led to one insight that tied into another, which may mean we’re about to have another historic moment, what I am calling and planning for, a Magna Carta Moment. When things get too dysfunctional, find something more functional, even if you have to make it up.

For those readers reading this in the future (is it possible to read it from the past?), earlier this week was an election in the US. For readers in the far-enough future, the US stands for a country called the United States of America, which aren’t looking very united, and in America, which many assume only means North America but which Central and South American countries can point out is not all-inclusive. The vote was not unanimous. It never is. There is always dissension. So it goes.

But it may not always go as it has gone. Being ready for change can be academic, but this week, it looks very practical and pragmatic.

Governments change. Usually, the change is relatively peaceful. Occasionally not. The US did not experience a governmental change; it experienced an administrative shift. That shift may be dramatic, but most of the paperwork stays the same.

That wasn’t always the case. We humans probably started out as random groups of individuals. Eventually, our ancestors stabilized into tribes, then klans, then warlords, then… The changes didn’t happen all at once everywhere. Communications weren’t that omnipresent. Another eventually happened as some societies became kingdoms and monarchies. There were experiments in democracies and republics, socialisms, communisms, other -isms. Variations ensue. 

Governments were based on geography. Alvin Toffler’s book Powershift pointed out that, as technology and communication progressed, information would become more important that geography. The site of an army may not be as powerful as the concentration of the control of information. That may seem inevitable. Those who control physical power may react irrationally to the shift, the powershift, to those who control information. 

I’ve been thinking about the shift in power since I read the book decades ago.

The shift from tribes and klans to kingdoms and empires was barely within historical records. A more recent shift was recent in a relative sense, in 1215, when a bunch of barons told a king he had to obey the law, hence, the Magna Carta. Some violence preceded the event. More violence followed as rights were fought over. Centuries were involved. The monarchy was seen as losing, yet we still have monarchies. Some power brokers continue to like the authoritarian command of a king. Some people like having an individual in absolute control.

Seque to technology

We are also in a technological change. Debate if you want to, but whether Artificial Intelligence leads to a Digital Singularity may be moot. Technology is enabling a concentration of information, and information is power. One well-recognized author is Ray Kurweil, who I recommend for some perspective. I don’t agree with everything he says, but I think his looking-ahead is more useful than current politicians looking-behind.

As I wrote recently about my science fiction novel, Firewatcher;

The future is happening fast. 
Firewatcher started as an image and an idea in the mid-2010s.
…
At the time, several trends were projected to reach critical levels in 2100. Artificial Intelligence, climate change, and political and societal shifts were projected to alter our world. Media reports frequently used the term ‘conservative estimates.’
…
My read on the media was that 2100 was too far off. My suspicion for each of the affects could be more like 2040.
 
If the world was going to change that soon, I should write the book soon.

I wrote the book in a bit of a rush, and am glad. Governmental changes can span centuries. Technological changes are happening in terms of months. There is a potential that technology can make governments more moot than they want to be. The governments might not like that. Today’s turmoil may only be a precursor to greater turmoil. 

Turmoil doesn’t have to be bad, but it is usually unsettling. Planning for it is a guessing game with low odds, but maybe we must. Mm. No maybe about it. Plan, but don’t be surprised when the situations change again.

Turmoil at such a level can upset not just markets, not just currencies, not just economies, but the very concept of economies and currencies and markets. 

Nah. It will never happen. 

How many times has that been said and thought lately?

Another author I’ll add to the mix, but only for people who aren’t startled by the possibility of a Magna Carta Moment, Dan Simmons. Dan Simmons is an excellent writer. I know his work from his science fiction that implicitly postulates future economies and cultures far enough in the future that the characters don’t understand much of our modern life. In more academic terms, he writes about a post-scarcity economy. 

Or, skip the academic and think about the economy of Star Trek. The Ferengi deal with money, which confuses the folks on the Enterprise. Watching reruns may be easier than reading yet another book. Capitalism clashes with post-scarcity.

For me, I am going to skip those considerations in this post because I’m not trying to write that book. (There are other books on my list. Stay tuned.)

For now, we still have to make money to pay expenses to live. I continue to invest in stocks and companies. We may see less control over monopolies and oligarchies, which doesn’t work well for the small-cap stocks I invest in, but I am not sure, so I am watching. Companies that are more information-centric than geographic-centric are more appealing. Big infrastructures may not be able to adjust quickly, though space-focused industries may be at a critical and positive junction.

As I mentioned above, “Artificial Intelligence, climate change, and political and societal shifts were projected to alter our world.” Of those four fields, I think the first two are the soonest. “We will never forget!” proclamations have kept some societies anchored in stories from thousands of years ago. Climate change is happening now, but I think we’ve only seen the beginnings. A hundred years from now, we’ll still be dealing with it. Politics can change with a tweet, but systemic change is more likely to take decades. Equal rights continues to be resisted. Will WWJD become ascendant?

Artificial Intelligence can seem an abstraction and a distraction, but its changes can happen in months, and in the extreme, in minutes.

What’s a person to do?

Cope. Have values that you understand, not values imposed by others. Be compassionate and collaborative because no one is going through this alone. For me, I’m glad I am frugal – and wish I had a sustainable house on sustainable land that could sustain me through major interruptions.

Gotta work on that.

I doubt my friends are surprised that I’ll continue to write.

Friends are customizing their responses. Several are moving to seemingly safer places. Those who can’t move are interested in learning coping skills. One friend’s life has always had to deal with injustices, and they are staying. They’ve been exercising those skills for decades out of necessity, not choice. Their family has been doing so for generations. Whatever skill you seek, there’s probably someone out there who can teach it to you. Ask nicely.

There are many responses. Positive ones may be best. Learning to cope is better than not coping. Finding creative projects, particularly ones that are expressive and possibly profitable can be gratifying in multiple ways. New businesses are already forming so control stays close, not at someone else’s command. And then there’s “living far from the things of man.” (Hmm. May be time to rewatch Joe Versus the Volcano.)

Plans. Plans. Plans. Scenarios, possibilities, probabilities – bah! At some point, I remember to breathe, feel, watch, smile, listen, hug, and definitely dance. A slow waltz for contemplation, followed by some swing to fling the energies away? Those are things that we pesky humans have been doing throughout all of our history, no philosophizing or planning required.