“The future is disorder. A door like this has cracked open five or six times since we got up on our hind legs. It is the best possible time to be alive, whne almost everything you thought you knew is wrong.”
― Tom Stoppard, Arcadia
Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
We must face the future.
The world changes with technology. So, the future is always an imperative.
Yet, some people seem to face it earlier than others.
In 1997, futurists James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg published their book ‘The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the transition to the Information Age.’
It is our Supertext #6.
In spite of a relatively uncertain, anxious future, we have been talking about changes in institutions, and looking toward a new First Turning,
Why not look at some of the things futurists predicted almost thirty years ago? Things that are now coming true.
Like every Supertext I’ve recommended, this one is no different.
It requires no reference…
And is a foundational work of non-fiction, original unto itself.
That being said,‘The Sovereign Individual’ predicted several major changes in the world we see today.
1. The role of technology in economic transformation.
As the world entered the “dot com” era in 1997 technology became more and more integrated in the world financial system.
Trading and account settlements moved from being managed by thousands of people in tall buildings to centralized computer systems allowing for almost instantaneous trading.
As we entered the mid 2000s, financial management became more transparent and accessible with the advancement of the internet, and computer systems in every home.
Then online trading platforms allowed the individual to manage their own accounts free from high-fees.
And then came the added service of AI to notify us of trades and predict price movements.
Now we have de-centralized digital tokens. Some call it money. Some call it Bitcoin. Others call it both.
2. The Erosion of Central Banks and the Rise of Digital Currency
Before Bitcoin, there were people trying to solve the problem of inflationary fiat money.
In the early 2000s, a digital gold-backed cryptocurrency called “e-gold” was created in the US.
But because of concerns from the SEC, mainly the lack of ability to track gold in a warehouse compared to the number of tokens floating around, the authorities shut it down.
The Great Financial Crisis woke up a certain underground tech community. The leader being Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin.
He and the community saw the flaws in the central bank driven fiat money.
So they created a decentralized, immutable, deflationary, digital currency called Bitcoin.
3. The decline of the nation-state, and a more competitive market for governments.
If you haven’t yet noticed, people are moving away from some States in the US and into others.
From California to Texas…
From New York to Florida…
Even the great rural majority of Oregon is considering joining Idaho.
That just shows you people prefer to choose where they live. With the rise of remote work, now they can. But more so, the rise of digital currencies are displacing the need for citizens to hold their government’s currency – whether that be USD, Euro, or Yen.
The result is nations must now market themselves to “political buyers.”
We see this happening inside the US, will we see more of this in the future?
It’s already happening Europe.
Asylum seekers are flocking in hoards to governments providing the best benefits.
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These are only a few of the outstanding, and profound predictions inside ‘The Sovereign Individual.’
It really is frightening how many of them are proving true.
Let me know.
Have you read the book?
