Comment by caprock | Hacker News Reader

Comment by caprock | Hacker News Reader

I'm generally optimistic about the next five years in the United States.

Change has already started, but 2024 will make it more clear. Several societal pendulums are slowing, will reach apex, and reverse course.

* Optimism will regain footing

* Belief in positive application of technologies which shape earth and society, will increase

* Conversation and information flows will recenter on individual responsibilities in service to community

This has already started in tech, business, and culture. It's partly a response to the deflation of the 2022 growth bubble and to political instability. See American Dynamism and e/acc for narrow domain examples.

The elections will act as a forcing function, and muddy the waters a bit. However, the political world will then be a lagging indicator. People will refactor their world models regardless of who wins.

We are a caterpillar. It's going to be intense as we build the cocoon and transform over the next year or few. But then...

I was rather grim in my previous posting - and I wasnt attempting to sound _extra_ grim... The things I mentioned are plainly visible, documented, videod, streamed, etc...

However - I do like your optimism. THere will be a lot of really amazing things to come out of the next ~12 months even.

Have you by chance watched the Tristan Haris and Aza Raskin on JRE (its the same talk, essentially, as given at summit) - I feel this one is a much better watch/listen than the summit one though.

I've not run across that discussion / talk, but it sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ZcBHvjhGMTTdGF3fIdvg9?si=o...

its worth it several times

I don’t share your optimism. The US was historically the land of opportunity, though often at the expense of imperialism, violent coupes, and endless wars. With the rise of non traditional/mainstream medias, younger generations see themselves economically imprisoned and can see through the cracks of an elite class that prioritizes its own financial interests above all else.

I hope I am wrong, but the establishment politicians see this danger. Tik Tok is a clear example - the anti Israel narrative, which was never tolerated in the mainstream press, is gaining more and more momentum. Congressional leaders, their financial backers, and Presidential candidates are all advocating some kind of ban or suppression of Tik Tok. And this is merely one example among so many divisive politics in the US.

I don’t think the younger generations will just roll over if you offer them cheap TVs, iPhones, or cheaper Big Macs. Something drastic has to happen.

>I don’t think the younger generations will just roll over if you offer them cheap TVs, iPhones, or cheaper Big Macs.

That's actually why I think @caprock has it right. The younger generations are building on doors that Gen X opened for them in the workplace. They are the ones demanding climate solutions. They are making it clear they aren't going to limp along until retirement when they can finally get Medicare. The political left is likely going to go through a moment sometime in the next decade where we have a political crossroads much like what conservatives have undergone, but my guess is that we will be better for it politically and as a nation. I'm expecting a reinvigoration of American industry unlike anything in my lifetime, and we'll see real movement on the major political issues.

Can you elaborate more on Gen X opening doors for younger generations? Amidst all the anti-Boomer/anti-Millennial rhetoric I tend to see bandied about online, I rarely hear anything about what good or bad Gen X has done, at least in the US. In my head, they seem like they're just along for the ride with no real effort put into major social or economic change. I am likely wrong.

Open to different perspectives since the public conversation seems to shift toward generational differences, whereas I tend to stand firmly in the "eat the rich" camp and ignore any commentary on generations. I may need to start paying more attention to that.

Something to consider: Gen X is the smallest of the generations currently living. When people say things like "Why won't younger people run for president?" you've got to realize that there are simply statistically fewer people in the age cohort that would be expected to be stepping into leadership. So that's part of why Gen X is less visible. Also, as a generation we are less likely to toot our horn, so to speak.

But - that doesn't mean that behind the scenes there haven't been plenty of Gen X that demanded remote work, demanded better pay, wanted more women in tech, etc. From my perspective, I see Millenials et al capturing the benefits that we started pushing for when we entered the workforce in the 1990s and early 2000s.

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