My last post was about the disappearing middle class. I’ve been thinking more about that concept. In 1989, the Internet began. I believe that’s also when the Berlin wall came down. Most scholars say that the Information Age began in 1989, pointing to the beginning of the Internet.
When economies move from one time to another, there is bound to be turmoil. I remember the story in the “Worldly Philosopher” when the Industrial Age supplanted the Agricultural Age. Landowners tossed off their tenant/serfs because it was more valuable to raise sheep for the wool for the new mills of the Industrial Age. The serfs had no place to live and the jobs were now in the cities so they moved, en masse, to big cities such as London. There had never really been slums in the cities before. But, there were now. The Queen was touring London and was heard to exclaim, “Where did all these poor people come from?”
As we move now from Industrial to Information, we’ll do so in fits and starts. It won’t be a smooth transition and, I’m certain, as the middle class lose jobs in industries that no longer need them or that themselves are no longer needed, there will be the same exclamation, “Where did all these poor people come from?”
Where? We created them. Or rather, the economic changes did. Just like with the dinosaurs, “Evolve or die.” That’s our choice today too.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
It’s interesting that many scholars point to these same events (birth of internet and the berlin wall) as both markers for the birth of the information age AND the death of the “nation state” as Davidson and Rees-Mogg assert in The Sovereign Individual. I don’t agree with everything in that book, but few people argue that we’re in a new age. It’s fascinating to think how the nation state is dependent on antiquated ideas. Still, when I describe information age business ideas to people, I’m often confronted with blank stares. We are absolutely at the front end of a terribly rich and interesting time. It is, however, a very different process to pull a team together than it used to be. I find myself more often than not working with people I’ve never met in person.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:20 am
“The Sovereign Individual” is a tough read and there are some controversial thoughts in the book. In summary, it’s a logical progression. First: church state (agricultural economy), nation state (industrial economy) and now individual sovereignty (Information age)
I first read that book about 12 years ago. I visited Australia a few years later, just went Rupert Murdock, the richest man in Australia, had drawn his line in the sand with the country. He told THEM how much in tax he was going to pay and if they didn’t like it, he would move his company to a satellite.
They capitulated. After that, when Microsoft was having all their problems with anti-trust, I often wondered why they didn’t just leave the US. deBeers Diamonds is not in the US for the very simple reason that they would be considered a monopoly.
And that’s what being a Sovereign Individual means - the right to choose how you will do business and thoughtfully weigh the plusses and minuses of a particular nation to house your business.
It’s the Information Age that has allowed the new business opportunities to flourish. Leverage is the secret. But, it’s not just leverage of money - it’s leverage of information, systems, time and talent.