Active Thinking Topic 59 The Age of Anxiety OR The Age of Opportunity?
Saturday 10 June 2023, 1:30 to 3:30 pm
Any replies to the organizer
- thormay@yahoo.com
Venue: Zoom online
Note that this topic is also
running live on Wednesday 6 June 2023, 6:30 pm at West Oak
Hotel, 208 Hindley St, Adelaide CBD. In that venue it will
be a topic for Adelaide Shallow Thinkers (
https://www.meetup.com/adelaide-shallow-thinkers/ ).
Register separately for this. Shallow Thinkers topics are
for free conversation. They do not have talking points or a
reading list in the 'comments' section] .
The meetup will ask for a donation of $2 each time. This helps Thor cover the meetup.com subscription of about $160 every six months. Pay by cash or Pay ID to the organizer’s number: 0479 154 831.
Talking Points:
1. Well, are you into feasting on anxiety, or hungry for opportunity? Both?
2. How many meetups deal with some kind of anxiety, how many with some kind of opportunity? Which are you drawn to?
3. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of life on earth? Why? When I was in my 20s (1965-75) it was the time of the Cold War between Russia and America. Many of us thought there would be a nuclear war very soon and everyone would die in a 'nuclear winter' (radioactive clouds blocking the sun). Hey, I'm surprised to notice that I'm still here 50 years later :). Now there is huge anxiety that the life on world will end because of (amongst other things) human made climate change. Will we muddle through again?
4. A fairly new word in English is 'snow flake", meaning a person who is over-anxious, fragile, not tough enough to deal with the bad guys who always seem to run the world. In the culture wars, snow flakes are also equated with being 'woke'. On the other side are supposed to be the tough, manly or womanly, no-nonsense conservatives who can actually keep Australia (or the world) in business. Is any of this new, or is it just a generational re-run of eternal themes? By the way, which camp are you in? Why?
5. What are some opportunities available now which were beyond imagination even a generation ago?
6. Is demographics destiny? Are there too many humans on earth? Forty years ago the commentariat worldwide was in deep gloom that population growth was out of control and that the plague of humans, like insects, would soon starve to death (e.g. hence China's one child policy). Now in every advanced economy the birth rate is below replacement. The commentariat is in deep gloom everywhere that young workers will be unable to support ageing generations. What do you think?
7. When does personal and national anxiety about security actually become a kind of imprisonment, a risk, or even a danger?
8. For all of recorded history a proportion of people have retreated from harsh reality through alcohol or other drugs. Now they even retreat from the imagined realities of social media in the same ways. Where is escapism trending in this age? Can it be 'cured'? Should it be?
9. There is an argument that historically religion (any religion) was 'opium for the masses', a way of dealing with existential anxiety by encouraging a passive outlook. The European Reformation, then Industrial Revolution, challenged this solution and gave rise to ideologies of opportunity like Communism. Well, how has that change worked out? Why are post-industrial populations like the Australian one largely giving up on both religion and ideology?
10. So, you are racing headlong for opportunity - whichever kind of opportunity takes your fancy ... What kinds of opportunity do take your fancy? What are your odds of success?
Extra Reading Links
Thor May (18 January 2005) "Copping It Sweet*" [*'Copping It Sweet' is Aussie lingo for accepting bad luck gracefully]. Thor's Korea Diary @ http://thormay.net/koreadiary/coppingitsweet.htm
Youtube topic (2023) "Emerging Opportunities" @ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=emerging+opportunities
Ange Lavoipierre and Elsa Silberstein (24 May 2023) "ADHD clinics capitalise on diagnosis explosion, with some charging up to $3,000 and paying doctors up to $900,000 a year". ABC News @ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-24/adhd-clinics-diagnosis-explosion-3000-a-visit/102380452
Daryna Zadvirna (24 May 2023) "The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has sat in Perth. It heard of hundreds of complaints of unacceptable behaviour. More than a quarter of the reports in the past year were substantiated. Nearly 700 complaints about unacceptable behaviour – including sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment – within the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Command have been reported in the past two years.". ABC News @ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-24/unacceptable-behaviour-royal-australian-navy-fleet-command/102378962
Sabine Hossenfelder (25 February 2023) "I recently learned that waste heat will boil the oceans in about 400 years". Youtube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRtA7STvH4
Robert L. Horton & David H. Jauregui (August 2019) "Emerging Opportunities: The Case for Growth Investing in Emerging Markets". Lazard Asset Management @ https://www.lazardassetmanagement.com/us/en_us/research-insights/investment-research/emerging-opportunities [Quote: "Emerging markets represented nearly 60% of annual global growth, with China and India the largest drivers. The region accounts for 86% of the world’s population and 36% of its exports, but only 12% of its equity market cap. Over the past two decades, emerging markets have expanded at an extraordinary rate, driving higher consumption by both individuals and governments. We expect this growth will continue as emerging markets develop, through infrastructure investments, market reforms, and deepening capital markets. Emerging markets annual real growth could surpass 5% on average per year over the next five years, in our view, or about 3% more than developed markets".]
Nadia Khomami (29 May 2023) "Succession syndrome’ prevalent among wealthy households, psychiatrists warn". The Guardian @ https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/28/succession-syndrome-prevalent-among-wealthy-households-psychiatrists-warn [Quote: "Studies have also shown that the more wealth one acquires, the less empathic and more ethically ambiguous they become. Children are then raised in households that permeate pressure, isolation and a sense of superiority"]
Peter Hartcher (May 30, 2023) "Forget the debt ceiling, the entire roof’s collapsing on America". The Age @ https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/forget-the-debt-ceiling-the-entire-roof-s-collapsing-on-america-20230528-p5dbvt.html
Neuropharmacist (17 Jul 2021) "Psilocybin Induces Long Lasting Modifications to Brain Connections" Youtube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xj0wk7iH4w
US Mayors Cite ‘Unprecedented’ Mental Health Crisis as Top Concern". Bloomberg Media @ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-03/cities-cite-mental-health-loneliness-and-depression-as-top-policy-concerns?srnd=premium-asia [Quote: "An “unprecedented” mental health crisis is overwhelming US cities, which lack adequate resources to address growing challenges, according to a new report released today by the US Conference of Mayors. In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues, particularly involving substance abuse, said a survey of mayors of 117 cities in 39 states."]
Kat (n.d.) "How to start your career as a digital nomad". EF Education First @
https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/language/start-career-digital-nomad/
Terry Nguyen (Nov 8, 2021) "Drop shipping, explained - How a decades-old business model became part of a side-hustle trend that affects nearly every shopper on the internet". Vox @ https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22763901/drop-shipping-explained
Derek Lidow, Author and professor at Princeton - multiple Quora advice posts on starting a business and entrepreneurship. Quora @ https://www.quora.com/profile/Derek-Lidow-2
Michael Spence (Feb 25, 2021) "Winners and Losers in the Digital Transformation of Work - Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have again raised fears of large-scale job losses. And while labor-market adaptation is likely to stave off permanent high unemployment, it cannot be counted on to prevent a sharp rise in inequality". Project Syndicate @ https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/distributional-effects-of-automation-artificial-intelligence-by-michael-spence-2021-02
The meetup will ask for a donation of $2 each time. This helps Thor cover the meetup.com subscription of about $160 every six months. Pay by cash or Pay ID to the organizer’s number: 0479 154 831.
Talking Points:
1. Well, are you into feasting on anxiety, or hungry for opportunity? Both?
2. How many meetups deal with some kind of anxiety, how many with some kind of opportunity? Which are you drawn to?
3. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of life on earth? Why? When I was in my 20s (1965-75) it was the time of the Cold War between Russia and America. Many of us thought there would be a nuclear war very soon and everyone would die in a 'nuclear winter' (radioactive clouds blocking the sun). Hey, I'm surprised to notice that I'm still here 50 years later :). Now there is huge anxiety that the life on world will end because of (amongst other things) human made climate change. Will we muddle through again?
4. A fairly new word in English is 'snow flake", meaning a person who is over-anxious, fragile, not tough enough to deal with the bad guys who always seem to run the world. In the culture wars, snow flakes are also equated with being 'woke'. On the other side are supposed to be the tough, manly or womanly, no-nonsense conservatives who can actually keep Australia (or the world) in business. Is any of this new, or is it just a generational re-run of eternal themes? By the way, which camp are you in? Why?
5. What are some opportunities available now which were beyond imagination even a generation ago?
6. Is demographics destiny? Are there too many humans on earth? Forty years ago the commentariat worldwide was in deep gloom that population growth was out of control and that the plague of humans, like insects, would soon starve to death (e.g. hence China's one child policy). Now in every advanced economy the birth rate is below replacement. The commentariat is in deep gloom everywhere that young workers will be unable to support ageing generations. What do you think?
7. When does personal and national anxiety about security actually become a kind of imprisonment, a risk, or even a danger?
8. For all of recorded history a proportion of people have retreated from harsh reality through alcohol or other drugs. Now they even retreat from the imagined realities of social media in the same ways. Where is escapism trending in this age? Can it be 'cured'? Should it be?
9. There is an argument that historically religion (any religion) was 'opium for the masses', a way of dealing with existential anxiety by encouraging a passive outlook. The European Reformation, then Industrial Revolution, challenged this solution and gave rise to ideologies of opportunity like Communism. Well, how has that change worked out? Why are post-industrial populations like the Australian one largely giving up on both religion and ideology?
10. So, you are racing headlong for opportunity - whichever kind of opportunity takes your fancy ... What kinds of opportunity do take your fancy? What are your odds of success?
Extra Reading Links
Thor May (18 January 2005) "Copping It Sweet*" [*'Copping It Sweet' is Aussie lingo for accepting bad luck gracefully]. Thor's Korea Diary @ http://thormay.net/koreadiary/coppingitsweet.htm
Youtube topic (2023) "Emerging Opportunities" @ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=emerging+opportunities
Ange Lavoipierre and Elsa Silberstein (24 May 2023) "ADHD clinics capitalise on diagnosis explosion, with some charging up to $3,000 and paying doctors up to $900,000 a year". ABC News @ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-24/adhd-clinics-diagnosis-explosion-3000-a-visit/102380452
Daryna Zadvirna (24 May 2023) "The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has sat in Perth. It heard of hundreds of complaints of unacceptable behaviour. More than a quarter of the reports in the past year were substantiated. Nearly 700 complaints about unacceptable behaviour – including sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment – within the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Command have been reported in the past two years.". ABC News @ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-24/unacceptable-behaviour-royal-australian-navy-fleet-command/102378962
Sabine Hossenfelder (25 February 2023) "I recently learned that waste heat will boil the oceans in about 400 years". Youtube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vRtA7STvH4
Robert L. Horton & David H. Jauregui (August 2019) "Emerging Opportunities: The Case for Growth Investing in Emerging Markets". Lazard Asset Management @ https://www.lazardassetmanagement.com/us/en_us/research-insights/investment-research/emerging-opportunities [Quote: "Emerging markets represented nearly 60% of annual global growth, with China and India the largest drivers. The region accounts for 86% of the world’s population and 36% of its exports, but only 12% of its equity market cap. Over the past two decades, emerging markets have expanded at an extraordinary rate, driving higher consumption by both individuals and governments. We expect this growth will continue as emerging markets develop, through infrastructure investments, market reforms, and deepening capital markets. Emerging markets annual real growth could surpass 5% on average per year over the next five years, in our view, or about 3% more than developed markets".]
Nadia Khomami (29 May 2023) "Succession syndrome’ prevalent among wealthy households, psychiatrists warn". The Guardian @ https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/28/succession-syndrome-prevalent-among-wealthy-households-psychiatrists-warn [Quote: "Studies have also shown that the more wealth one acquires, the less empathic and more ethically ambiguous they become. Children are then raised in households that permeate pressure, isolation and a sense of superiority"]
Peter Hartcher (May 30, 2023) "Forget the debt ceiling, the entire roof’s collapsing on America". The Age @ https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/forget-the-debt-ceiling-the-entire-roof-s-collapsing-on-america-20230528-p5dbvt.html
Neuropharmacist (17 Jul 2021) "Psilocybin Induces Long Lasting Modifications to Brain Connections" Youtube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xj0wk7iH4w
US Mayors Cite ‘Unprecedented’ Mental Health Crisis as Top Concern". Bloomberg Media @ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-03/cities-cite-mental-health-loneliness-and-depression-as-top-policy-concerns?srnd=premium-asia [Quote: "An “unprecedented” mental health crisis is overwhelming US cities, which lack adequate resources to address growing challenges, according to a new report released today by the US Conference of Mayors. In recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues, particularly involving substance abuse, said a survey of mayors of 117 cities in 39 states."]
Kat (n.d.) "How to start your career as a digital nomad". EF Education First @
https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/language/start-career-digital-nomad/
Terry Nguyen (Nov 8, 2021) "Drop shipping, explained - How a decades-old business model became part of a side-hustle trend that affects nearly every shopper on the internet". Vox @ https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22763901/drop-shipping-explained
Derek Lidow, Author and professor at Princeton - multiple Quora advice posts on starting a business and entrepreneurship. Quora @ https://www.quora.com/profile/Derek-Lidow-2
Michael Spence (Feb 25, 2021) "Winners and Losers in the Digital Transformation of Work - Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning have again raised fears of large-scale job losses. And while labor-market adaptation is likely to stave off permanent high unemployment, it cannot be counted on to prevent a sharp rise in inequality". Project Syndicate @ https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/distributional-effects-of-automation-artificial-intelligence-by-michael-spence-2021-02
The Age of Anxiety OR The Age of Opportunity? (c) Thor May 2023