Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Gabe G's avatar

Growing up, I was firmly in the optimism camp. I’d heard old timers wax and wane about the state of the world and think they were being old fashioned.

“Middle class income has been stagnant”

“Yes but could you watch videos of literally anything you wanted in a small personal information box? Finally things are being democratized.”

It took me years working in Washington watching how the tech companies operate to understand how ridiculous this is.

My big mistake when I was younger was assuming that because we now had something that was impossible in a previous time, it made our world incomparable to the past. Additionally, I naively thought companies providing the new tech had their goals in alignment with the general public (make something good and people will use it right?).

I also feel my distraction with shiny objects and a promise of a better future made me overlook how basic needs like housing, health, and stability were becoming less attainable.

Expand full comment
Cheez Whiz's avatar

Fascinating. These Long Boom Progression guys neither understand nor care about social behavior, or basic economics for that matter. To be sitting smack in the middle of the 2nd Guilded Age and keep a straight face while claiming technology will create such abundance (doubling down after the 1st article crashed and burned!) it will be "too cheap to meter" is rich. And what is it with these Long tech cons? Long Boom, Long Tail, Long Now. Every one a sleight of hand hustle, keep your eye on the ball that's way off in the future, it's gonna be great!

Expand full comment
20 more comments...

No posts