Category: Radical Ideas
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The Four Futures of the Blockchain
Last month, I had the opportunity to speak on the future of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies have blossomed from a fringe idea to an over USD $140 billion market capitalization. Initial coin offering – IPOs that issue tokens based on cryptocurrencies – have raised over $1.13 billion USD in the first-half of 2017. Meanwhile, the […]
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Limits to Democracy
A Society & Governance Mismatch The thirty years, we can all agree society has changed, but what about our governance? Businesses from Amazon, Facebook to Uber, to organisations like ISIS and Al-Qaida, and technology like smartphones to autonomous drones demonstrate how the world has changed and adapted. But has democratic governance changed? It hasn’t. We still […]
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An Entrance Exam from 2050: How would you answer?
Aaron Maniam, a poet, futurist and civil servant, has stumbled upon an admissions exam from the year 2050. It’s for those applying to study post-globalisation or transnational dialectic studies. He’s been generous enough to share it with his Facebook followers. A large amount of people also contributed insightful questions from the future. I’ve included only […]
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Silicon Valley: Challenging the Geographical Monopoly
Can Redistributing Silicon Valley Fight Inequality? Just about every American know the Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Most Americans don’t know, however, was the name of the march of where it was given: “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” The need for jobs underlined that no civil rights would be […]
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Can Democracy Survive Facebook?
Can democracy survive the 21st Century? “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 Is the truth knowable? And if we find the truth, will it set us free? Democracy requires a large pool of well reasoned, well informed voters. But Facebook-era prevents revealed we no longer have […]
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The New Social Contract: The People, The State, the MetaStates
Revisiting Rousseau The Enlightenment concept of the social contract has been the foundation for modern democracy and government for over 250 years. But how might we revisit and reimagine this social contract today? The social contract was a disruptive idea (to borrow from Silicon Valley) that authority was not derived by divine right (as with […]
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Salim Ismail: Our Democracy is Collapsing
New Models is a series of posts dedicated for looking for new models for organisations, specifically new models of governance and society. At a recent interview in Denmark, Salim Ismail of Singularity University declared “our democracy is collapsing.” Why? Information abundance and short-term thinking. Democracy is suffering from Information Overload For Ismail, representative democracy was designed […]
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The End to Economic Growth?
Asia and the End of Economic Growth Not too long ago, the world witnessed the meteoric raise of Singapore, South Korea, and later China as they propelled their economics on the engine of export-based manufacturing. These countries witnessed a radical radical transformation and transition: from agriculture to manufacturing and transitioning in to service industries. As […]
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Saudi Arabia as a high-tech manufacturing hub?
When the Saudis Disrupt Bangladesh A Possible (Plausible?) Article from 20 March 2037 1. Beginning of the Saudi Disruption Back in early February, a World Bank report marked 2036 as the year Saudi Arabia officially joined the ranks of China, Japan, the United States, and Germany as one of the world’s top ten global manufacturing […]
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Robots & Algorithms: Long Term Threats to Developing Countries?
Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses … it’s progressing… 20 years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower. I don’t think people have that in their mental model. – Bill Gates NOTE: I’m learning how to improve my writing. Do you have tips on how to be […]