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Six Megatrends That Will Shape the Future There are many beliefs America holds that the rest of the world finds gruesome and strange: guns, capitalism, greed, cruelty. But among these is a new one: that this dark period in American history is an anomaly — and therefore, things will revert to normal. Sorry. American collapse … Read more

Or, Why The Economy We’ve Built Gets Life and Death Upside Down Here’s a tiny question. Have you ever wondered how the economy can be doing well — while kids massacre each other regularly at schools? After all, an “economy,” if it’s anything at all, is about how well we live…

Or, How Punching Down Became a Way of Life In this essay, I want to share with you a tiny theory of what it means to be American. It is up to you to judge, as ever, whether it carries any weight. All that I will say is that when I look around, it explains, … Read more

Or, the Dismal Future of the Average American Young Person Did you know that American kids perform “active shooter drills” from the age of 5?Bang.In busts a cop, pretending to be a gunman. There’s little Johnny, trying desperately to figure out how to save little Sarah and little Ravi.

Which Would You Choose, Peasantry or Serfdom? There’s a curious trend sweeping the globe: young people appear to begiving up on democracy. Troubling, no? Now, there are many factors that could be playing a role, and probably are. Technology. Apps. Demographic divides. And so on. But I think there’s a subtler explanation.

Or, Why Media Flaming Out Isn’t Tech’s Fault — It’s Advertising’s Fault Media’s in cataclysmic shape these days — publishers closing big and small, newspapers going out of business, consolidation and layoffs everywhere — and it’s easy to blame technology.

Or, How Tech Created its Own Backlash From furious editorials by Facebook investors, to calls for tech giants to be broken up, from alarmed discussions about tech as something like smoking, to Zuck calling for people to spend less time on Facebook — you’ve probably seen by now a mounting backlash against tech, stronger by … Read more

Or, Why Eliminating Poverty Might Just Be the Key to Escaping Decline Here’s a tiny question — which might strike you as a little strange, controversial, or foolish:why should rich countries have poor people in them, anyways?

The Strange New Pathologies of the World’s First Rich Failed State Jan 25, 2018 Member-only Save You might say, having read some of my recent essays, “Umair! Don’t worry! Everything will be fine! It’s not that bad!” I would look at you politely, and then say gently, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think … Read more

The Strange New Pathologies of the World’s First Rich Failed State You might say, having read some of my recent essays, “Umair! Don’t worry! Everything will be fine! It’s not that bad!” I would look at you politely, and then say gently, “To tell you the truth, I don’t think we’re taking collapse nearly seriously enough.” … Read more