Beneath the veneer of the so called recovery, there is a deep current of turbulence in society. This turbulence is not the pending bond market crash that will collapse stocks and real estate, but the changing economy. This economic restructuring is based on a struggle between opposing ideas, corporate vs local, top down vs decentralized, experts vs open sourced, etc.
Our generation sees the corporate system and do not want to participate. It isn’t that we despise productivity- we want to maintain our autonomy. Working a rigid schedule from 9am to 5pm does not sound like a winning deal. Worst yet, the pains of job applications, rush hour commuting, and office politics are games we are not interested in playing.
What the new generation seeks is not jobs but access. Access to a system that allows them to render service and be paid for the value produced. This system allows anyone to enter freely and work on their own schedule. No job interviews. No boss. No office politics. No rigid schedule. In a nutshell, a system that allows you to work when you want and produce as much as you want.
Organizations like Uber, YouTube, Airbnb, Instagram, Patreon, and CityXcape are all precursors of this new economy and there will be more. We want a system where success is dictated by one’s input directly to the market not by how good you are at "playing the game".
Of course, there are those who want to maintain the status quo of vertical hierarchies, fixed schedules, and controlled measures of success. To be fair, these systems are familiar, have the guise of fair order, and are seemingly secure- plus they offer "benefits"... right? Look behind the staunch attachment and you'll see that those who are hanging onto the corporate system are victims of fear.
They fear the new economy because it puts their actual work closer to the public without the buffer of a company. The truth of their usefulness will be ruthlessly unveiled in the new economy and that might just feel too bare- too risky. They are holding on for themselves, but their behaviors result in harm to everyone else.
Their fear translates into desperate measures to extract as much wealth as they can before it all collapses. We see example of this through bailouts, stock market bubbles, college bubbles, real estate bubbles, etc. All these are signs of a society refusing to adapt. Knowingly or unknowingly, they are looting the system and their fellow man- us.
This great financial crash that is coming will not only be a great reshuffling of wealth but it will also expose the frailness of this dying economy. Out of its ashes however will be a beautiful flower.
One should not fear this economic shift. It is a good thing, a drastic step forward for mankind. Do not listen to fear mongers sounding the alarm about robots and artificial intelligence taking our job. Nor should you fall for naive solutions such as Universal Basic Income. As the economy restructures, new methods of producing income will emerge. These new industries will be so different and creative that one can hardly speculate regarding their nature. Only through time will their secrets be revealed.
To make your transition into this shift easier, I recommend one thing- self investment. Your self development will allow you to be more flexible and adapt. By self development, I do not mean vain self help books full of platitudes. I am referring to learning real skills. Learn how to produce tangible things, learn how to get along better with others, learn how to sell yourself and your services, and more importantly, learn how to unlearn. In a society full of false concepts and outdated modes of education, none is more important than this last point.
If you found this article useful, please check out my book on building a custom mind. In it I discuss methods of creating healthy mental reflexes and eliminating unhealthy or dangerous ones.
