Grasping the Future

What will I do with my life in 20 years? How will you spend your time earning a living, resting and recreating your interests, health, family and community? How will we all interact 20 years from now in the community of the future?

Good questions all. And not one of them easily answered. Here’s why.

First, what we need to know in order to live life well is changing faster than we can teach it, gather it, understand it, and then adapt to it. It is not a competitive situation, really, just one of quick understanding and adaptation.

For example, when I was a youth classrooms taught the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. We basically do the same today but the course contents are vastly different. Perhaps the logic bites are the same but the language is different. We can joke about ‘new math’ struggles of parents through the ages as they struggled to help their kids cope with homework assignments. We didn’t do very well, did we? We didn’t understand the subject matter as it is being taught today. Furthermore, if we didn’t like the course work when we were students, chances are good we not only forgot what we learned, we forgot what we didn’t want to learn and in fact did not learn! So, a disconnect with our kids, maybe, but more importantly, we engineered our own personal disconnect with our society.

Things change over time. That is inescapable. And we want this change to happen. With it comes better home construction methods, more efficient appliances, fantastic cars we drool over, as well as clothes, cooking recipes, meals and cuisines, and so much more. Our society depends on change to become better.

We grow our food supplies better today than in the past. We have found new ways of growing some crops that do not need outdoor soils, air or water. We control those ingredients via mechanical means and produce 6 times more product, healthier product, cheaper and with less transportation cost thrown into the mix as well.  In short our food production has more than exceeded population growth.

Even as agricultural land is increasingly developed into highways, commercial buildings, housing shopping malls, and urban sprawl, we produce more food on less land. So much for the Malthusian Theory (population overgrowth and death of entire societies). We have overcome that well in industrialized nations.

In poor countries we have another problem. Arable land lies underused. Populations who are hungry have not been taught how to grow food. Distribution systems to move food from field to table are also in short supply. Roads and truck fleets are rare making the distribution even more difficult.

There are ways to spread modern methods and systems to impoverished areas and make them sustainable at the same time. There are education systems, health delivery systems, and economic development models that can easily be installed in otherwise forgotten places.

Why is this not being done now? Because many nations think this is too costly. That too many wealthy nations will have to donate such support to the needy all the while building new competitive nations to our own. Well, well, well! Such short sightedness. And stinginess.

I know it is hard to find a new job when one is lost. I know it is frustrating to realize your skill sets are declining in popularity and need. I get it that you will most likely have to learn new skill sets to be employable again. And to get a strong income similar to the one you lost? You will have to not only get new skill sets but excel in delivering them with demonstrable smarts to get the job.

Bemoaning the circumstances, even attempting to blame someone for this hideous circumstance you now face, is not helpful. It doesn’t solve the real problem: society is changing and we didn’t adapt; now we have to in order to move on.

Same with companies, organizations and any dependent system. Electrical energy grids, natural gas distribution networks, agricultural, educational systems, housing modes, trade agreements, trade unions and so much more are involved here. A lot of things are changing as we read these words. Much more change is forming on the outskirts of our awareness at this moment, too.

So what to do? Be open and flexible. Read and engage life fully. Think expansively. Be a part of the change and be ready to build new careers, new theories, new ideas and new communities. All is in play.

And that’s a good thing. We are being tested and those who are not afraid will benefit the most. So be a winner and prepare for adaptation to the exciting new future!

July 6, 2016