Is Trump and his movement a step for real change, or a last gasp of an older generation. Is American dynamism alive, or is the country on an inevitable evolutionary path out of the wild west into the populated bureaucratic civilization we have seen in Europe and Asia?
A very interesting interview with Cowen on an a16z podcast: "The irony of our systems working so well — technological, corporate, and yes, even political — is that we’ve become too comfortable: matching to others just like us, producing less, taking fewer risks. But isn’t the very point of technology to make our lives more comfortable? Yes… until “we” — whether an entire class, generation, ethnic group, or country like the U.S. — become a little too complacent. Or so argues Tyler Cowen in his new book, The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream.
A very interesting spin on the loss of mobility and dynamism. Rather than immigrants, it's the Trump supporters themselves who are in effect sponging off the state. They are the ones who no longer want to move to chase a job or to educate their kids. They somehow think society owes them the American dream without having to work for it as hard as they believe their own parents and grandparents had to. So, sure, we can find ways to bring manufacturing back - but is it for the best to hold onto jobs manufacturing air-conditioners in Indiana, or trucks in Detroit, rather than create that same level of job in new technical fields aligned to the mega trends of society?
A very profound point is that progress needs dynamism, but it always comes with downsides.
“The general problem is that ‘veto points’ build up in a lot of systems as they grow larger and more bureaucratic.” That’s why we have NIMBYism (and a bunch of other such -isms). Corporate cash becomes the new stagnant pool (watch out for those mosquitos!). The stability of real estate becomes a trap. Social media (and even some protest) becomes signaling vs. actually doing something. As for culture: Who defines it? And is it time to bring back the individual quest?"
We have to break things to progress. But, thinking of a song right now, letting go is the hardest part.
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