Marieke Flament’s Post

Once-powerful governments struggle to govern. Politics have become tribal. Inequality is rising—and with it, social unrest and division. These trends suggest the era of industrial superpowers is over. Instead, we have entered a "neomedieval" age. And in a neomedieval world, America's rivalry with China may have more in common with the fitful conflicts of the 14th century than with the cataclysmic world wars of the 20th.

Another good piece by RAND. Here’s to the connectivity of humans and growth of AI making it shorter than the last medi evil period and then to the Neorenaissance!

Hey, I'm not a crackpot anymore! RAND is saying what I've been saying for years about the world gradually shifting closer to Neo-feudalism! (Well, I'm still a crackpot, but at least not for this reason anymore.) I focus on the economic and humanitarian challenges presented by this shift, but RAND is focusing more on the geostrategic implications. We're likely to see more low intensity wars fought in the grayzone and information space, just as we did in ancient times, albeit with a modern technocentric twist. Please note that this doesn't mean the modern state is going anywhere, they're just coming down from the historical peak of their power. The short and skinny: Classic benefits of centralized states like the ability to muster endless legions and take several good punches have substantially eroded. This is related to a number of worrying trends of regression we share with the medieval period. RAND lists these trends as crucial: 1: Weakening states: All powerful nations struggling to maintain legitimacy, provide services, and opportunities 2: Fragmenting societies: Erosion of national spirit via competing group identities (political, ethnic, religious. America is at an advantage in the latter two domains because of our 'melting pot' strategy, but nobody can deny our politics are a flaming dumpster fire.) 3: Imbalanced economies: Entrenched inequality, stagnant social mobility, uncontrollable growth of illicit economies 4: Pervasive threats: More frequent natural disasters, new diseases, violent nonstate actors. 5: Informalized Warfare: Spread of contractors, mercs, and ideologically driven paramilitaries.

Things to Ponder (warning: this is a depressing list) 1)     Where will the US realistically be in the world order by 2100? 2)     What will the world order (or disorder) look like? 3)     Will there still be humans on the planet? 4)     Will we have massive food and resource wars? 5)     Will democracy survive until 2100? 6)     Will the world make their clean energy goals? 7)     Will people still be allowed to have children? 8)     Will freedom of speech still exist? 9)     Will robots do the work and AI make the rules on how people live their individual lives? 10)  Does the world have the ability to really innovate and create great things (e.g., the Moon Landing and the spin outs from that) or are we just in survival mode? These are the questions I pondered on an early morning flight home yesterday. The news is depressing, the politics messy, and the wars threatening. Leadership is lacking in most countries, and there is little alignment on global policy that results in great outcomes. Looking to 2024, nothing looks like it will get any better (but there is always hope). I have to wonder what is out there for any grandchildren that my children may have. Having lived through the Viet Nam era and the cold war, I have hope that we can turn it around, but where is the JFK that can inspire a nation? Where is a leader for the United Nations that can make a difference by force of personality and intelligence (can you name the last two Secretary Generals of the UN?)? Are we willing to shift our generational alignments with political parties and really work for the best answer?

Once-powerful governments struggle to govern. Politics have become tribal. Inequality is rising—and with it, social unrest and division. These trends suggest the era of industrial superpowers is over. Instead, we have entered a "neomedieval" age. And in a neomedieval world, America's rivalry with China may have more in common with the fitful conflicts of the 14th century than with the cataclysmic world wars of the 20th. #Rand #US #China https://lnkd.in/dnG8u3H9

WEF is gaining terrain. "Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better" - Ida Auken, Danish Minister at WEF. Soon it will be law in Denmark that you don't even own your own body anymore. You will become an ORGAN DONOR by default. It shows a total lack of respect, and is in perfect line with the "Dark Triad" Leadership of nations! I'm thrilled, because the Danish government once again reveals themselves and proves everything I published about them 2 years ago, and what I am about to publish very soon in books 2 and 3. At the amazon nearest to you; https://lnkd.in/diHJSHMy How much longer will people accept our fantastic politicians who in Denmark, cancelled the public century old national holiday, closed the critical radio channel (loved by millions), joined forced becoming an unelected government, and drive it's nation into poverty or mediocracy at best by taxing their freedom and mobility away from them???? And don't be fooled by the liberal parties (LA, etc), they too supported Corona passport, lockdowns, vaccinations, etc. (being part of WEF too), and they too won't ever change the taxation and lack of freedom of Danes. It's all illusion, but by your vote, you automatically entitle politicians to dis-respect, bully, and intimidate you while taking everything away from you, by gaslighting you into a perfect welfare system that is chaotic at best, with wars and conflicts all around us, also because of politicians (who have the power to end wars), NOT because of the people! With this move, the last bit of people's freedom and individual sovereignty is utterly gone forever! #truth #sandhed #danmark #wef #bullyingnations #bullying #disrespect #intimidation #psychopathy #narcissism #cruel #evil #ondskab #freedom #leadership #lederskab #ceo #history #government #politics #tax #death

#WeekendReads: What Will 2024 Look Like? As we ponder the year ahead, forecasts often (always?) diverge, highlighting the challenge of predicting our complex world. "The Economist's The World Ahead 2024" tackles this challenge, offering insights into diverse topics from: USA's political future, Middle East turmoil, the looming second cold war, advancements in AI, ever increasing state debt levels, Asia Pacific situation, etc. 2024 is deemed to be a pivotal year with nearly 70 elections in countries housing 4.2 billion people 😲 . But ok let's be real – not all these elections will be models of democracy. Yet, these forecasts could largely be wrong due to the two "usual suspects": Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. With Trump's potential election and Putin's continuation (guess 85% reelection rate? up from his 77% win in 2018), especially his stance on Kyiv, the global scene could shift dramatically - economically, energetically, and militarily... What a year ahead indeed! #TheEconomist #TheWorldAhead2024 #Economics #AssetManagement #GlobalPolitics

In this edition, find incisive insight into the rally in the stock markets and, why their golden age is drawing to a close, what it would take to defeat Fentanyl, and how autocracies pose risks to diaspora communities. Discover why Europe's barbed wire may not keep migrants out, understand how the changing British electorate is propelling labour towards victory, why Africa’s economic growth has stalled, and the immense benefits of tempers at the workplace. In business, discover the emergence of a new investing landscape and why Companies need to adapt, the dilemmas for over 1,400 international companies that continue to operate in Russia, and in science, the link between the “kissing disease,” and multiple sclerosis (MS) and why vaccinating kissing disease may solve MS.

“The market-based economic system we commonly know as capitalism has been the greatest generator of wealth and innovation that the world has ever seen. Some of you may think that’s controversial, but it really is hard to argue otherwise… The bottom line is this: While there may be, in fact, better ways than capitalism to organize the productive capacity of large modern societies, we haven’t discovered those systems yet. Maybe one of you will invent them. Maybe there’s an Adam Smith out there somewhere. But just because an economic system generates wealth and innovation, it doesn’t mean it guarantees and good society. Because from the outset, it turns out market-based systems have been compatible with slavery, caste systems, colonialization, war, exploitation, corruption, fraud, autocracy, the poisoning of our natural environment. Fortunately, thanks to the accumulated efforts, bit by bit, of reformers and organizers and visionaries, not so different from many of you, some, mostly democratic governments, began to recognize the need to moderate capitalism’s excesses…” #Technofeudalism #OpportunityCapitalism #WeThePeople https://lnkd.in/eGM7ydKa

With the help of Generative Artificial Intelligence we are now able to handle the complexity and large data bases needed to solve previously intractable problems like the UN Sustainable Development Goals and other issues plaguing our planet today. Most human minds can’t handle the complexity needed to provide comprehensive and coherent solutions to conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, poverty, corruption, and injustice. We too quickly fall back on simplistic, oppositional slogans, aphorisms and memes so commonly used in social media. The real future of artificial intelligence is an influx of positive, nuanced advancements in how we handle complex problems previously beyond the capabilities of collective societies.