Futurism

WE MUST EITHER ANTICIPATE THE FUTURE OR CREATE IT OURSELVES . Dear Friends: It is almost the middle of August, 2008, and the economy of the World is in turmoil. The exact causality is not known, despite what the pundits might tell us after the fact, as they usually do. Sadly, they give very conditional and nebulous advice in terms of facing what lies unseen ahead of us, but they enjoy a lively ex post facto (e.g., too late) debate about why things happened...about the why of history . The three principal benefits of studying history are 1) understanding human eccentricities and propensities; 2) ... Read Full Story

Dear Friends: In order to be effective in the business of international marketing, it is essential to develop an understanding not only of the present market conditions, but of the anticipated future market conditions. Futurism should be of very serious interest to any company interested in survival. Some of the components of a comprehensive futurism analysis might include an examination (e.g., some good projections) of the following elements as they relate to your product or service and its global potential: demographics demand and consumerism competition, existing and emerging technological change and new, alternative products the regulatory environment international trade policies and restrictions foreign exchange ... Read Full Story

As a follow-up to yesterday's post about the postmodern paleo-future here's an excerpt from the March 14, 1982 New York Times article, "Now and Then, Congress Also Ponders the Future." ....activity in the field [of futurism] has slowed to the point of stopping. "Actually, [futurism] died somewhere in the 1970's," said Michael Marien , the editor of "Futures Survey," a monthly abstract published by the World Future Society . "Nobody announced its death, but it happened." Mr. Marien, who has been monitoring futures literature for the past dozen years, said the flood of books on trends and forecasts is down to a trickle. If ... Read Full Story

Paleo-Future reader Mr. Wallace recently inquired about an advertisement he came across many years ago that asked people to send in their ideas of what the year 2076 would look like. After some searching I found a book called the Tricentennial Report: Letters From America, sponsored by the Atlantic Richfield Company and published in 1977. This was the year after the United States Bicentennial , which is when the solicitations most likely took place. From the introduction to the report, "The people had been asked by Atlantic Richfield Company in newspapers, magazines and television advertisements, to discuss their country's future. Some 60,000 Americans responded ... Read Full Story

Here are my predictions for the coming year. I'm no Nostradamus, Jeannie Dixon, or Edgar Casey, but I am a fat broad who likes to drink a lot, which gives me visions. Or maybe they are drunken hallucinations. Whatever, these are my picks for 2008. Enjoy. * Hillary Clinton will not get the Democratic nomination. * Rudy Giuliani will not get the Republican nomination. * There will be a walkout of delegates at the Republican National Convention because of the choice of nominee. * A third party candidate will arise from this walkout. * At least one athlete will die at the Summer Olympics ... Read Full Story