The North Star For Navigating a Transforming Society

Building on last weeks topic of Digital Bohemianism, this week is about how our inherent humanity is the north star for navigating the rapid digital transformation.

That means embracing our human elements like compassion, empathy, altruism, creativity, and intelligence. Then channeling these traits into our lives by way of curiosity and the quest for knowledge. This is how we’ve historically made it through transitional periods. And it’ll be how we make it through the transitions we’re living through right now as well.

Transformation Requires Adaptability & Resilience

As the internet revolutionizes social and community organization and new technology forces change throughout society, we find ourselves in a challenging landscape of choices. Adaptability and resilience are crucial character traits in this environment.

We're now constantly being tested by our evolving society. In many cases it seems as though we’re entering adapt or die situations. Our response to these challenges define not only our character and our fate but also on a society-wide scale reshape how we live, work, and form relationships with each other.

Said another way, during this transitional period, we’re rewarded for quickly embracing new ways of life, new subcultures, and seeking out unique forms of individualism (ie: digital bohemianism).

But adaptability and resilience aren’t traits that come naturally to everyone. And this is especially true for people that tie so much of their identity and lifestyle into the social systems established by the late industrial and early information age.

Inherent Humanity Is How You Get To Adaptability & Resilience

In this rapidly changing world, it's crucial that we recognize our true identity lies not in material possessions or our societal roles, but in our inherent humanity. We must lean into the characteristics and behaviors that are typically associated with our humanity like compassion, empathy, altruism, creativity, curiosity and the quest for knowledge.

Why though?

Because lifestyles, cultures, and social systems will come and go but these traits will serve you well in any social circle, any community, and any individual lifestyle. By embracing them as your lifestyle’s north star, you’ll be be better equipped to a life of adaptability and resilience.

Adapt Or Get Left Behind

As I was writing last week’s newsletter, I found myself thinking about the popular quote “adapt or die”. It comes close but doesn’t quite fit my sense of where we’re heading. Instead, it’s more accurate to think of the times we live in as “adapt to the digital transformation or get left behind”.

ie: you can adapt to and embrace the new lifestyles of the times we live in or you’ll increasingly find yourself in a situation where you struggle to feel happiness, contentment, and will struggle to make a living.

Left behind in a perpetual state of financial and emotional depression.

Many People Will Reject Living A Blank Canvas Life

Tying this back to Digital Bohemianism, there are a lot of people that really struggle with the notion of living a blank canvas life. Living on their own terms with no mainstream conventional wisdom dictating what to do, how to think, and what’s right vs what’s wrong.

They’ll continue to go to college regardless of the falling ROI, they’ll reject remote work for in-person because that’s how it’s always been done, and they’ll insist on buying a home because that’s the American Dream. Despite the fact that there are a growing number of alternative paths that lead to high quality life outcomes. This isn’t just true for America - it’s true of all economies that are plugging into the digital economy.

And because many people are committed to the traditional lifestyles, we can expect that they’ll reject the new, digital ways of life.

How Is Society Handling The Transformation So Far?

Taking a step back from these whimsical thoughts, I ask myself - how are we doing as a society with handling rapid transformation? How are communities and social institutions around the world handling this breakneck pace of technological change?

While there are positive aspects to the rapid advancements in technology, such as new forms of collaboration and innovative solutions to global issues (like social media, crypto, remote work), there are also negative consequences (like clashing subcultures, violent conflict, institutional decay and financial stress).

The people and institutions that are unable or unwilling to adapt are increasingly finding themselves left behind economically and socially. This creates and deepens inequalities and hardships. And it can lead to conflict.

Examples include:

• The US Rust Belt - once a manufacturing hub and now an area mostly in decline over the last 50 years due to globalization.

• The battle forming between the emerging social classes - location dependent vs location independent - manifesting at the local, state and national levels (like San Francisco’s tech exodus, California & New York having net migration outflows vs Texas and Florida’s net inflows, and an increasingly backwards US immigration policy causing foreign students to seek education in other countries)

• Traditional media institutions losing status, clout, and credibility in a social media - citizen journalism era (journalist jobs have become low pay and at risk jobs)

The erosion of traditional institutions and social structures is leading to a rise in individualism. It undermines the sense of community and shared values that have long been the bedrock of human societies under the nation state model.

It’s an era of go where you’re treated best or get stuck trying to pick up the pieces. There are winners and losers.

As we grapple with the transformative power of technology, it's essential that we remain grounded in our shared humanity and collective resilience. The future success of society hinges on our ability to navigate this tumultuous landscape with acceptance of and adaptability to these changes. But it also requires we do so with empathy for our peers that struggle.

The truth is that the digital transformation will not be all sunshine and positive outcomes for everyone. It’ll be filled with trials and tribulations. Only by acknowledging these challenges, understanding that each person will navigate this adventure differently, and embracing the human spirit will we be able to find a new sense of steady-state society.

Rapid Fire

• Brazil’s Lula Calls For End To Dollar Trade Dominance - A bit of a "trendy" story right now but this is one of those emergent narratives that you've got to pay attention to. I'm not generally a dollar doomer. I don't see the dollar disappearing from relevance. But I do see a near future where more countries diversify into a basket of currencies versus relying exclusively on any one currency. What might that mean for the global economy and America the superpower? That's what I'm looking out for.

• Cities and Ambition- This is probably my favorite essay online. But it was written in 2008 and a lot's changed since then. I’d now propose an addition: the idea that just as different cities have their own unique messages that influence the ambitions of the people living in them, online communities operate in a similar manner.

  
  With the rise of ubiquitous internet access, mobile phones, and social media, the lines between physical cities and virtual communities are becoming increasingly blurred. Both city-specific messages and the ethos of online communities shape the culture and character of their inhabitants. By understanding these messages and identifying the right environment - whether it's a physical city or an online community - individuals can choose the spaces that best align with their ambitions and aspirations, while leveraging the power of technology to stay connected and engaged in a rapidly evolving world. Just some food for thought.

• US Attempts to Deepen Ties With Vietnam - The US is trying to play both offense and defense in South East Asia by diversifying trade partnerships and attempting to block China from expanding influence.

• 30% of San Francisco Office Space is Vacant - “The move is in-line with current industry trends, as big tech firms cut workers and office space - despite CEOs such as Salesforce's Marc Benioff pushing post-pandemic return-to-office policies.”

• Rate of Flexible Work Policies Varies Significantly Between Companies Founded Before and After 2000 - "You're far more likely to find work location flexibility at companies founded after 2000. 82% of Flex Index companies founded since 2000 offer at least some work location flexibility, whereas 53% of companies founded before 2000 offer flexibility.”

• 30 Years of Central Bank Gold Demand - Given the ongoing changes to the world economy and relations between key participants, this chart is worth keeping an eye on. Taken on it's own - it probably doesn't mean much. But given the chatter about diversifying away from the US dollar as the primary global reserve asset, this becomes more significant.

• Macron Calls For More Sovereign Europe Less Reliant on US - Macron has been making a lot of noise recently. First within his country by raising the age of eligibility for pensions and now by encouraging Europe to reduce it’s reliance on the US. Strong evidence of multipolarism.

• The Next Wave of Remote Work is Outsourcing Jobs Overseas - And so it begins. The window for location arbitrage will begin to close.

  “Incomes will become more unequal within jurisdictions and more equal between them.” ―  The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age

• Jason is insufferable - but I agree with his point here at least in principle: AI is going to reshape the workforce in meaningful ways and it’s going to happen a lot faster than people realize.

Extras

Lucky in Life