06-16-2021, 02:45 AM
One of the most important things to learn is that no generation is a monolith. The economic elites (which was regrettably so for Boomers and is coming to an end as Boomer executives start to retire) might become monoliths, but the rest aren't. You might choose occupations that the elites do not touch. I am astonished that welding, an activity that does not seem to hold many Idealist characteristics, is a job to which blue-collar Boomers headed in great numbers. For good reason, those jobs are opening as Boomers retire.
One feature of the 3T and most of the current 4T likely to end is the extreme disparity of economic result. Bloated, over-extended, but highly-centralized and bureaucratized firms that offer the same thing to all people irrespective of where they live started to implode in the latter part of the Double-Zero decade are going to have other followers. Small business is far more responsive, more lean, and more resilient. If you want to see a good model for small business, then look at the business activities of the Old Order Amish in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. The Amish were the sort of "market" that Big Business served poorly. They didn't buy the expensive toys of indulgence that the "English" bought. Their businesses are closely connected to agriculture, and they are local. Small businesses, they do not need armies of accountants, marketing 'experts', and chains of command that an entity like Sears couldn't live with out -- but eventually killed Sears.
I expect more people to be able to make things on the spot, fitting the customer perfectly, through 3D printing. This will fit consumer purchases of dry goods from apparel to fishing lures to aftermarket parts for cars. Oh, so you need a replacement lampshade? That can be made on site.
As economic disparities weaken, people will rely less upon shoddy stuff and more upon quality material and construction for such things as furniture.
One feature of the 3T and most of the current 4T likely to end is the extreme disparity of economic result. Bloated, over-extended, but highly-centralized and bureaucratized firms that offer the same thing to all people irrespective of where they live started to implode in the latter part of the Double-Zero decade are going to have other followers. Small business is far more responsive, more lean, and more resilient. If you want to see a good model for small business, then look at the business activities of the Old Order Amish in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. The Amish were the sort of "market" that Big Business served poorly. They didn't buy the expensive toys of indulgence that the "English" bought. Their businesses are closely connected to agriculture, and they are local. Small businesses, they do not need armies of accountants, marketing 'experts', and chains of command that an entity like Sears couldn't live with out -- but eventually killed Sears.
I expect more people to be able to make things on the spot, fitting the customer perfectly, through 3D printing. This will fit consumer purchases of dry goods from apparel to fishing lures to aftermarket parts for cars. Oh, so you need a replacement lampshade? That can be made on site.
As economic disparities weaken, people will rely less upon shoddy stuff and more upon quality material and construction for such things as furniture.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.