Friday, January 06, 2012

State of the World

Bruce Sterling and Jon Lebkowski are back for the 2012 State of the World discussion, and they're spinning memes at a furious pace. A sample:

The "Caste." Since Italy has had a very low birthrate for a very long time, it's dawning on people that everybody in power is amazingly old and that young people can't get a job or a house. Since the guys at the top of the heap never really leave power or change their policies, they are increasingly decried as the "Caste." Unfortunately for the young, old people vote very regularly and aren't gonna vote against themselves. Japan suffers a similar political helplessness; there's just not enough fresh blood to renew the state. It's gerontocracy in action and it's getting worse. Italy now has a "technocratic" emergency government, but they're all old guys.

It's all good. Go now and join in over on the WELL.

No comments: