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Apr, 2024
I’m usually not very timely here in terms of commenting on hot-off-the-press type of events, but I’m going to do it today! Canadian futurist Ruben Nelson shared a piece from the Cascade Institute called “Introduction to Polycrisis Analysis.” I have not reviewed it yet in the appropriate detail it deserves, but my initial reaction is […]
Mar, 2024
The way we work ain’t workin’, right? So far workforce resistance has been mostly passive. But what if it turns active … thus stinkbombing. Let’s do a quick review. Great Resignation Quiet Quitting Lazy Girl Jobs Lying Flat I think workers are trying to tell us something, namely, the current approach to work is not […]
Mar, 2024
… are we willing to make? Sacrifice seems to be a concept that is out of fashion. Aren’t things tough enough already … and you’re asking for more? For those struggling, it’s about just getting enough. Or for some it is simply about getting mines (sic) rather than sacrificing for the larger community. The After […]
Mar, 2024
The opposition to the idea of post-work has lightened. It generates fewer snorts and eyerolls. I can sneak it into classes, talks and workshops and maintain credibility. As the implausibility argument loses some of its edge, the main objection is a variation on the lazy theme, i.e., humans are ill-equipped to handle free time and […]
Feb, 2024
The last in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is the Ineffective Left. The far left continues to be ineffective in catalyzing change. The left, particularly the far left, is more inclined to support the changes needed to move to After Capitalism than the right, but it has been […]
Feb, 2024
The sixth in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is climate change and carrying capacity. Climate change and humanity’s growing ecological footprint are threatening the ecosystem. Global climate change is accelerating and starting to have noticeable effects. Humanity’s growing ecological footprint, which contributes to climate change, is also influencing […]
Feb, 2024
The fifth in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is technology acceleration Economic growth is slowing in part due to inability to pay. The simple version of stagnation is a vicious circle (see figure): lack of jobs > lack of money > lack of purchases > lack of growth […]
Jan, 2024
The fourth in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is technology acceleration. Automation could drive towards After Capitalism from two distinctly different paths. Automation is defined here as the use of various technologies for operating equipment or for performing tasks, physical or digital, with minimal or reduced human intervention. […]
Jan, 2024
The third in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is technology acceleration. Growing economic inequality is threatening the social order. Inequality has long been an issue, but awareness of it has been growing and it is becoming increasingly intolerable. I previously shared how Piketty’s popular Capital in 2014 makes […]
Jan, 2024
The second in our series of seven key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism is technology acceleration. Technological capabilities continue to increase rapidly, often exponentially, in a wide range of sectors. In short, technology will save us. Lest ye skeptics are about to click away, hang in there. It is plausible! Proponents have a […]
Jan, 2024
Back in November, we did a ranking of the key drivers influencing the move to After Capitalism. We start with the top vote-getter, Shifting Values, which is described as: Values are shifting from traditional (follow the rules) and modern (achieve) to postmodern (search for meaning) and integral (make a difference). Almost unnoticed by most –but […]
Dec, 2023
is just the beginning according to former Stratfor analyst Peter Ziehan in his “Mapping the Collapse of Globalization.” It’s been a challenge to convey my reaction to this book. On the one hand, I had some negative reactions. On the other hand, I did end up reading the whole thing, and it has made me […]
Dec, 2023
A new Imagining After Capitalism article is out in the Journal of Futures Studies (JOFS). It is the [plant-based] meatiest piece I’ve put out so far, clocking in at over 6,000 words. It talks about how I tailored our Framework Foresight approach to fit the particular task of searching for and analyzing ideas images about […]
Dec, 2023
Robin Hahnel provides us with a wonderful and useful handbook on the Participatory Economy that “demonstrates concretely how to reconcile comprehensive democratic planning with worker and consumer autonomy.” I found it incredibly useful to see a detailed approach to how this post-capitalist approach might work. I did not necessarily agree with everything, but it is […]
Nov, 2023
I teased the global question a few years ago. I reframed the work to be more globally representative. But I might be accused — or I am accusing myself, of avoiding the big global question: namely, can After Capitalism happen in one place or does it have to be global to be successful? In my […]
Nov, 2023
There are differing views on how to run an economy. I think most of us here see an After Capitalism future. But we’re not the mainstream. Here, my friends, is the [dying?] mainstream: “OpenAI chased purpose without profit.” The piece criticizes OpenAI for pursuing purpose without profit. It reminds us that in capitalism, it should […]
Oct, 2023
You might recall a post about “it’s okay to think big.” I need to backtrack and get back to the basics of the state of thinking in general. For context, thinking is super-vital in our U of Houston Master’s program and “better thinking” is the #1 benefit our alums cited in a recent survey. What […]
Oct, 2023
I’m about to rack up some frequent flyer miles carrying the foresight message. I have been cutting back on speaking the last few years, but nonetheless find a bit of a world tour coming up. The World Futures Studies Federation 50th Anniversary Conference , Paris, October 25-26. A key reason for going to this […]
Oct, 2023
I’m pleased that “A Technique for Guiding Images: Imagining the Future After Capitalism” has been accepted for publication in the conference volume from the 2022 Knowledge and Space Symposium on “Placing the Future” in Heidelberg, Germany. In particular I focused on the methodological aspects of creating the After Capitalism guiding images. When I took […]
Sep, 2023
How do you collect and organize your horizon scanning? At Houston Foresight, we have some particular needs (see the graphic). We teach Horizon scanning in a variety of settings (most virtual, but also some face-to-face) to a variety of people and organizations. One particular need is that we like to demo the creation of a […]
Sep, 2023
I was looking for more global examples to put in the After Capitalism manuscript, so I went through my library of 700+ scanning hits on the topic and pulled out the global ones. In this case by global, I mean outside the US, since a key focus of my After Capitalism research has been on […]
Sep, 2023
A couple of years ago I posted about what seemed to be a flurry of new varieties of capitalism being written about. I listed 38 varieties in June 2021. Little did I know that I was just getting started. Today’s list is at 84. Granted, these are not all technically accurate economic alternatives and some […]
Aug, 2023
“All I’m offering is the truth” — Morpheus in The Matrix But he offered so much more — an image of a future in which Zion prevails! Houston Foresight Advisory Board member Maggie Grayson recently posed the question: “Is there a risk in thinking about the future?” My initial thought was “of course,” but this […]
Aug, 2023
I may be preaching to the choir, but perhaps I can provide some support for big thinkers … as we become an increasingly endangered species. I’ve been getting some pushback on ideas that include or hint at development, stage theories, or heaven forbid, grand narratives. Let’s focus on “development” since it guides After Capitalism in […]
Aug, 2023
Aligned, in motion, and ready for action — A. Hines Guiding images tie the future to the present. They pull us into the future. They provide a stimulus for change. Previous, I wrote how about our goal as futurists is to get our clients “aligned and in motion.” Let’s update that phrase to “aligned, in […]
Aug, 2023
Our preliminary research at Houston Foresight into how domains evolve over the Three Horizons suggests collapse is not the typical route to transformation; rather a gradual iteration of new equilibria appears to be more common. Yet it is almost conventional wisdom that crisis is the key enabler of transformational change. Perhaps it is our understanding […]
Jul, 2023
The tour on the road to after capitalism stops today at Unilever, prompted by an outstanding Cold Call podcast that had Patrick Hull and Bill Kerr talking about company’s approach to the future of work. I admit to a few goosebumps moments, where they so right on, and overall it sure seems to be an […]
Jul, 2023
Now that’s the kind of ambition needed for the transformation to After Capitalism. The building is the Bullitt Center in downtown Seattle. I was in Seattle and took the opportunity to book a tour. One of my goals after the book comes out is to visit people, places, and organizations that are already on the […]
Jul, 2023
I am happy to share a 30-minute version of my After Capitalism research. I did this last year for the 20th symposium in the Klaus Tschira Symposia series on Knowledge and Space, which was focused on “the challenges facing humans as we step into tomorrow. Uncertainty about the future is a key issue in defining […]
Jun, 2023
Most of the ideas I’ve seen for an After Capitalism future put a heavy emphasis on the local level. Most of it comes from a view that local knows best in terms of local communities being most aware of what is needed and what works in their particular context. I think it is also to […]