Issue #43

June 14th, 2021

Join us – share and network, discover and learn

PERSONALIZATION – An overlooked megatrend?

WEBINAR this week – Open discussion. No theme.

Friday, June 18th 4PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85896241732

YouTube

To view former webinars CLICK 

HERE

The webinar last week and again this week will continue to by just a chat – an airing of whatever greives you or excites.  Last week – not recorded, the webinar discussion explored activism, violence and Islamophobia; the residential school abuse revealed again; increasing social frailty; Covid constraints, mental health and youths’ identity crisis.  The focus on Canada’s sociology emerged in response to an early concern expressed about white privilge and the nation’s European heritage.

Periodically we take a sample of the BIG issues for detecting Megatrends – the threats and opportunities shaping our future. Consider:

• Failing governments. Media feeding off of ANY hint of government malaise. Has it ever been any different? Increasingly serving as “friend” or “opposition”, the media continue to editorialize “the news”. It  has become endemic. Objectivity and  investigative research are all too rare. A dumbing down of readership.
  
• Taxing big tech. The threat to freedom of the press is real as advertizers and readers switch to big tech and on-line news sources that pay no taxes. Personal tweets and social media displace interest in public “news”.
•  Social and historical guilt. The discovery of unmarked graves in Canada’s now closed, residential schools has served to rip the bandaid off healing that was to be achieved through reconciliation. Expect more curriculum reviews, historical revision, broad renaming, and rise of the apologist. Let no one be left out.
• Inflation. Uncertainty continues as to whether rising inflation is a blip or a sustained threat. Watch the paradox of sustained unemployment and prevailing labour shortages.  If sustained – the shortages would trigger wage increases fueling inflation.
  
• Climate change. Any aberration in the weather is attributed to increasing levels of CO2, carbon-for-energy emissions, and evidence of climate change. Net-Zero targets by government and industry gain popularity. Volatility in the flow of capital into alternatives for accommodating  increasing demand and electrification reflect uncertainty during the energy  transition.
  
• Covid-recovery. Spotty – depending on the proportion of the population vaccinated and effectiveness of public isolation measures. The third-world struggles with vaccine access, threatening recovery elsewhere.
  
• Mental health. Mental health issues caused by social isolation measures to combat Covid get confused with instances of racism and violence triggering calls for “public” measures to constrain “personal” choice. 
  
• ESG. The bundling of public/ media issues: environmental, social, governance, reflecting a deep public concern with increasing and disruptive activism.

 Is there a common thread? I think there is, consider the tension is not so much on the source of tension but rather how to respond. Consider:

The impatient, social authoritarian. They want a quick fix and appeal to the highest authority – government(s) as “the fixer”. They also see most problems as due to government neglect or sheer incompetence, and hold an ideology that utopia can be had if only government leaders would take action. Activism is achieved through NGOs depersonalizing the source(s). Issues are “existential”. Advocates are followers.

The patient, personal rationalist. They view change as achieved through personal responsibility, and live by the golden rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Consider facts and personal experience, appealing to authority as a last resort. Action is in building a constituency of support bottom up. Suspicious of “chicken little” and academic ideologies. Advocates are independents.  

The technocrat.  They are supremely confident that personal and social, environment and even governance problems can be resolved through technology. AI comes immediately to mind. The technology is expressed through either of two extremes: socialization imposed through authority or personalization selected by choice. The later today has been accelerated as more and more data is available for interpreting and appealing to personal preferences. Our challenge is whether the technocrat opts for a utopian approach and aligns with authorities for top down socialization or the alternative, bottom up personalization, supporting and influencing, informed personal choice. Advocates achieve leader status through authority or achieve it as markets determine.

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Weigh in with your view – join us any Friday HERE https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85896241732

Looking ahead – is here someone you would like to hear from?  Someone we might approach to be interviewed on a topic of general interest to a Network that professes to care about the economy, the socio-economic impact of emerging technologies. the relevance of small business entrepreneurship. The rise of ESG and challenge to democratic values? Values and leadership – perhaps candidates in a forthcoming election.  Let us know HERE