In This Issue Vol. 27 Issue 23

SHIFTING GEARS: The Emerging Patterns That Will Drive Our World THE SHIFTING CLIMATE CONVERSATION IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY REIMAGINING RURAL AMERICA A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS MORE FROM SNS MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Con Slobodchikoff OUR PARTNERS

SHIFTING GEARS: The Emerging Patterns That Will Drive Our World

By Evan Anderson

 

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

- Robert Frost

Last week, Berit Anderson and I attended the Aspen Ideas Festival at the Aspen Institute. (For those of you wondering what the author of "The Viral Economy" would do at a conference to avoid Covid: socialize only outdoors, wear an N95 indoors, and always travel with an N95 solidly strapped to your mug. I remain Covid- free.) The event was filled with top experts covering a fascinating range of topics, from climate to tech policy to geopolitics to journalism.

The fact that the event was well-run and mostly outdoors was a pleasure. Most interesting, however, was the common threads that emerged throughout the week. Among the many topics covered, three key patterns stood out that will have the greatest effect on our world in the coming years:

1. The way we talk about the climate emergency is rapidly changing.
   
   
2. We are in the midst of a critical fight for democratic ideals, both at home and abroad.
   
   
3. The way we make and use new technologies is undergoing a massive shift, and *US* policy in particular is falling quickly behind.

This effectively paints two clear potential futures for the US and the world at large. In one, "business as usual" wins out, and the challenges to climate health, democracy, and various forms of infrastructure development prove too great. As a result, we find ourselves in a world characterized by never-ending escalation of carbon emissions, increasingly brutal authoritarianism, and the stymieing of progress as new efforts drown in bureaucracy, squabbling, and misguided policy. 

Yuck. This is not a future we want.