So What Does It All Mean?
November 3, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · 4 Comments
Watch this video to the end and prepare to be overwhelmed with Future Shock.
Here’s what it means: a liberal arts education, virtue, and religion/spirituality have never been more critical. They are what ground you in the midst of rapid change and chaos. They are what give you perspective to put technology in its proper perspective. They give you the ability to forge new paths, persevere through hard times, and be a standard to follow.
Isn’t it time for your education?
Shock: We’re Dying From It
October 27, 2008 by Aspen Eggimann · Leave a Comment
“Shock,” said my instructor, “is what we all die from. No matter what kind of injury, sickness, or stress the body has gone through, in the end the cause of death is shock.”
This was in the middle of a ten-day Wilderness First Responder Course in which we had been learning to splint broken bones with sleeping pads and webbing, how to set a broken arm, stop blood flow, and treat heart attacks. But shock was the one of the most important of things to learn how to cure.
Why? Because once you go into shock your survival rate rapidly plummets, and once it reaches a certain point there is no going back. A broken bone can be set, but there isn’t a way to pull someone out of serious shock.
We have heard of culture shock. It’s when you enter a new country or circumstance and where the social rules have changed to such an extent that you find yourself not knowing how to behave or what is going on. But there is a comfort — uou can go home, back to a place where things are familiar and the shock will leave.
Future Shock
But there is a new kind of shock: future shock. This is when events, terms, technology, and nations are changing at such a rapid rate that we can’t keep up with it. We are left confused and unsure about how to behave.
Alvin Toffler wrote his book Future Shock in 1970. Reading it today he sounds like a prophet. His predictions of what the future would be like for those living in these times, and his concerns for the stability of our nation and communities, are almost dead on.
The term “future shock” was coined by Toffler in an article written for Horizon in 1965. He then spent the next five years studying the idea and came away with “two disturbing convictions”:
First, that “future shock” is a real sickness from which increasingly large numbers are already suffering. This is not just an idea; it is felt by everyone but recognized by few. Children that have grown up in an ever-changing society don’t know a difference and yet still don’t know how to adapt.
Secondly, Toffler was “…appalled by how little is actually known about adaptivity. In the most rapidly changing environment to which man has ever been exposed…we remain pitifully ignorant of how the human animal copes.” We don’t know how to adapt. Technology goes out of date faster then we can keep up. Definitions of education, work, religion, morality, sex, country, and patriotism change. With this continual shift we are left preparing for the future before it comes. The future is crashing upon us before the present is even lived.
“Many of us have a vague ‘feeling’ that things are moving faster. Doctors and executives
alike complain that they cannot keep up with the latest developments in their fields. Hardly a meeting or conference takes place today without some ritualistic oratory about ’the challenge of change.’ Among many there is an uneasy mood — a suspicion that change is out of control. Not everyone, however, shares this anxiety. Millions sleepwalk their way through their lives as if nothing had ever changed, and as if nothing ever will.”
Change is the constant and increasing dilemma in our lives. No matter what direction change is taking us the rate of change itself is astounding. And it is only in our understanding of it and our ability to adapt that will keep us from shock of the future.
We have the ability now to channel change. What we say, think and believe can impact literally thousands within moment, thanks to technology. Days when it took generations or thousands of years for an idea to take hold are gone as information and communications fly through cyberspace.
What does all this change mean for our society as a whole? What about the structure of nations, families, jobs and science? Will we be able to reinvent ourselves for the future, before the futures comes?
In 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote, “In the three short decades between now and the twenty-first century, millions of ordinary, psychologically normal people will face an abrupt collisions with the future. Citizens of the worlds richest and most technologically advanced nations, many of them will find it increasingly painful to keep up with the incessant demand for change that characterizes our time. For them, the future will have arrived too soon.”
That future is here, and it has come to soon. But it need not put us into shock, we can reinvent the way we do things and lead out in the direction change is taking us.
Recovering From Shock: Three Treatment Steps
1. Embrace It.
The first step to adapting to future shock is acknowledging the rapidity of change. Sleepwalking through life will only put us further into shock. Change is exciting, it is an opportunity and it is happening whether we like it or not. Embrace it. Enjoy this age and take full advantage of the opportunities it presents. Enjoy the journey and don’t fall into believing nothing is happening. Instead, believe that anything can happen.
2. Reinvent, Reinvent, Reinvent
We may not be able to control the change that is taking place or the effect it is having on our lives, but we can reinvent the way we do things. Attempts at this have taken place with the ever-increasing fashion of “going green.” Going back isn’t an option; going forward and reinventing is. The way we do things from how we look at money to how we build houses, get an education, vote, and use energy can have astounding impact on the direction the future is taking us.
Taking control over everyday products such as food, energy, entertainment and leisure will have a huge impact on our ability to handle change. We are victims of change when we are reliant upon outside sources that feed, clothe and house us. By using our time and resources to take more control over the future of our lives we will be directing what kind of change impacts us. This isn’t a call to live in the woods unconnected with the rest of the world. It is simply an idea that perhaps we can limit future shock by limiting the outsourcing of our everyday lives.
3. Get Educated.
It has been said that to be educated is not to know everything worth knowing but to be able to find it and sift it out from everything that is not. Educate yourself in technology, current events, and sciences. Educate yourself about the future. But also educate yourself in the past. The understanding of history and philosophy will make the current rapidity of events understandable. Education gives us tools to be able to see patterns in our own day and prepare for it and the understanding of where ideas and thoughts come from and their validity. Education will be one of the greatest tools to avoid future shock.
As Alvin Toffler wrote, “Future shock will not be found in Index Medicus or in any listing of psychological
abnormalities. Yet, unless intelligent steps are taken to combat it, millions of human beings will find themselves increasingly disoriented, and progressively incompetent to deal rationally with their environments.”
Future shock is here. Do you have the treatment?
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Libertarianism: The Threat and the Opportunity
August 16, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · 11 Comments
How To Influence the Definition and Direction of Contemporary Libertarianism
Those who focus their energy on combating socialism are fighting a war that, by and large, has already been won. Collectivism, though at its apex and seemingly more powerful than ever, is on the decline; individualism is on the rise. With its rise, individualism, commonly known as libertarianism, poses threats to American culture and governance. It also provides significant, positive opportunities that have not been available for more than a century.
It is imperative that we identify the dangers of mainstream libertarian thought and provide alternatives in order to capitalize on the opportunity to create a balanced, sustainable, free, and just society. As is so common throughout history, we may swing the pendulum from collectivism to libertarianism to find that they are both equally dangerous and unsustainable. The danger posed by libertarianism — or the opportunity — is predicated upon how it will be defined and practically applied.
The Decline of Collectivism
Collectivist institutions are splitting at the seams and crumbling due to financial infeasibility, dramatically changing age demographics, and the cultural mediocrity that they instill. Foreign wars, which necessitate higher taxes and thus enable the centralization of power, are becoming less and less popular, both for financial and moral reasons. All forms of collectivism are showing themselves to be unsustainable as a matter of empirical fact, rather than subjective value judgment. The popularity of Ron Paul, and a general decline of trust in the government and other modern institutions, especially among the youth, also evidence the decline of collectivism.
The Fragmented Nature of Libertarianism
While there are universal tendencies shared by modern libertarians, libertarianism as a political movement and ideal has not yet gained the coherence necessary to appropriately use it as a specific, functional label. The tagline of the Libertarian Party is “Smaller government, Lower Taxes, More Freedom,” which is about as universal as the movement gets. However, Lew Rockwell — one of the most popular and widely read libertarian websites, boasts the tagline “Anti-State, Anti-War, Pro-Market,” which is clearly more ideological, more concentrated, and therefore more divisive. While Ayn Rand preached the “virtue of selfishness,” Leo Tolstoy advocated self-transcendence and Christian service. And in contrast to Rand and Tolstoy, whose messages center on personal morals and values, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, and others generally avoid such concerns and focus primarily on the economic aspect of freedom.
Attempting to define libertarianism appears to be an irony and even a contradiction, since at its core libertarianism viscerally rejects any label or identification that would even hint at forced or inauthentic uniformity. As a response to collectivism — or sameness — libertarianism celebrates diversity and independent thought. However, since it appears to be the default heir to the decaying throne of American politics and culture, defining it is one of the most vital steps to Read more
The Irony of Connectivity
February 26, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · 2 Comments
Information Age Casualties, and How To Reclaim Them
Why is it that the more digitally connected we become, the more we feel disconnected from the things that matter most?
Picture the following scene, played out many evenings in typical American homes. The father is on his computer in the office, finishing up some last minute work details and reading up on the latest election news on the internet, while the mother is watching TV in the living room. The son is downstairs playing video games while the daughter listens to music on her iPod in her bedroom while instant messaging with friends online.
As you picture this scene (and ponder what’s wrong with it), try to comprehend the magnitude of what we’ve accomplished in the Information Age, the ability to bring the entire world into our living rooms and bedrooms, the ability to connect in real time with almost anyone across the globe.
Want to learn about Zambia? A quick Google search brings up 124 million sites. Want to download the latest song from an obscure artist in Australia? You’re about two clicks away.
What’s the current price of crude oil? Who won Academy Awards? How many delegates does Barack Obama currently have? How can you defeat the final challenge on your favorite video game?
Whatever is on your mind, in whatever corner of the globe or concerning the most esoteric and specialized concepts, you have almost instant access to your questions. Technology has given us a brave new–and small–world, with more information, opportunity, and connectivity than our ancestors could even dream of.
And yet, in an age largely defined by connectivity, we’re losing our lifelines to the most important things. Specifically, there are three main connections that, ironically enough, are being systematically severed the more digitally connected we become.
What are those three connections, and how can we strengthen them in our own lives?
The three most important connections we can have are with God, family, and nature. These three life-saving links provide the context in which technology, and every other aspect of the modern world, is given proper meaning and priority. They make up a foundation that, when lost, will plunge us into the emptiness of entertainment, the sterility of science, the cynicism of forfeited faith, and the hollowness of hedonism.
We can have computers, the Internet, iPods, instant and text messaging, TV, radio, blogs, podcasts, and videos pouring out of our homes, while emptying our lives of true meaning in the process.
A person with a deep and lasting connection with God, family, and nature understands the purpose of technology and how to interact with and use it properly. A person who maintains those three connections, despite anything else happening around them, will not be swayed by opinion polls, tainted by compromise, numbed by information overload, or corrupted by exploitive greed.
God, family, and nature are rocks that the sand of modern technology rests upon; when those rocks are removed, the sand quickly collapses, losing all sense of structure, balance, and perspective.
How to Stay Connected
Considering their critical nature, how can we build and strengthen these connections? As with any relationship, for these connections to be deep and sustainable requires ongoing communication and quality time.
God
As counter-intuitive as it seems considering His omnipresent Hand in our lives, it’s actually quite easy to lose connection with God. We become busy, overwhelmed, complacent, and forgetful.
The two best ways to maintain a firm connection with God are to pray and meditate daily. Prayer is when we speak with God; meditation is allowing God to speak to us. As our creator, God knows us intimately, far more than we know ourselves. He will guide us, protect us, unlock our potential, teach us lessons uniquely suited for our particular situation and stage of development. He will do these things and more, that is, if we let Him, if we allow Him into our lives and seek and follow his guidance.
Make the commitment now to pray and meditate daily.
Family
All of us know the cliche that when we’re on our deathbeds, we’re not going to wish we spent more time at the office. Sadly, however, few of us live its meaning in our daily lives.
Do you know your children? Is your love for your spouse stronger than it was on your wedding day? Are you creating memories that your family will cherish for years to come? Is your home a sanctuary, a refuge, an escape from and defense against destructive people, thoughts, materials, and substances? Now, more than ever before, our homes must protect ourselves and our children from the overwhelming forces of destruction.
Make two commitments now that will make all the difference in achieving this goal: religiously have a date night once a week with your spouse, and set aside at least one evening per week for your family to play, study, learn, and grow together.
Nature
This is perhaps the most difficult connection for most people, since much of our modern world is designed to help us escape from nature. While comfort is certainly nothing to avoid, consistently spending time with nature helps us appreciate comfort, escape Information Age noise, and stay balanced.
Intuitively, although perhaps subconsciously, when in nature we seek to emulate its design–the strength of the rocks and mountains, the cleanliness and vibrance of the rivers, the peacefulness of the lakes, the determination of the wind, the perseverance of the trees and plants, and the submission of the animals to their divine place in creation.
In 1851 Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish and other Indian tribes around Washington’s Puget Sound, delivered a beautiful and profound environmental speech in response to a proposed treaty under which the Indians were persuaded to sell two million acres of land for $150,000. His words seem more applicable today than they ever were. Seattle said, “…Every part of the earth is sacred to my people…We are part of the earth and it is part of us…
“We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on…His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert…
“There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of the insect’s wings. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? …The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days he is numb to the stench.”
Have you become numb to the source off all your material blessings? How does this impact your life?
It’s hard and you will find every excuse not to, but it’s critical that you commit to at least one meaningful excursion into nature per month. Go hiking, camping, backpacking, mountain biking, canyoneering. Get out into nature, breathe her in deeply, honor her, and make yourself whole in her presence.
Conclusion
The rise in digital connectivity has been largely accompanied by a decline in and stagnation of our connections with God, family, and nature. By maintaining and strengthening these three critical connections, we avoid the dangers of the Information Age and become a rock to rely upon, and a standard to follow.
Commit now to staying connected with God, family, and nature by praying and meditating daily, holding a weekly date night with your spouse, setting aside at least one evening per week for nothing but family activities, and going on at least one nature excursion monthly.
Will you serve technology, or will it serve you? Will you be more connected to your cell phone than to the most important things and people in your life? Will text messaging replace meaningful conversations with the ones you love? Stay connected with God, family, and nature, and answering these questions will never be a struggle for you.
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
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Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
Surviving the Information Age
January 24, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
How can you survive and thrive in the Information Age?
There are ten critical skills taught by world-renowned experts Peter Drucker and Granville Toogood that any freeman must master to be able to impact society in the 21st Century. These are:
- The ability to think.
- The ability to learn.
- The ability to teach.
- The ability to persuade groups.
- The 5-Minute Pitch.
- The 8-Second Inspire.
- The ability to quickly assimilate new technology.
- The ability to apply knowledge learned from reading.
- The ability to strategize and execute.
- The ability to project accurately.
How can a person master these skills? Quite simply: through a world-class, leadership education. The methodology of this essential education can be found in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. Read this outstanding book to learn how you can be a force for good in a rapidly changing world.
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
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Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
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