January 9, 2020

State of the World 2020

My favorite globe-trotting, self-promoting cyberpunk is back with his 2020 State of the World forum at the Well. His assessment, as always, is entertaining.

“

So in MMXX, we're in a world situation that claims to be post-global and post-Internet and post world-trade, where everybody wants to take back control, be great again, assure sovereign cyberspace, set tariffs, jail immigrant tots, beat up ethnic minorities, nurture billionaires, ignore science, and reduce education to assure that there are fewer brainy chicks -- but in practice, there's no big difference among the players. They ALL do that. There's next to no genuine cultural variety. They all use the same hardware, slogans and techniques.

”

I’m not sure if I’m reassured or even more terrified now. The whole text is worth a read.