Five Goals for the Era Ahead

As things fall apart in the coming decade, reforms will fail, half-measures will fail, platitudes will fail, lip service will fail, appeals to past glory will fail--every response of the self-serving status quo will fail.

Though this blog devotes considerable attention to large-scale systems and dynamics, I think the way the next decade plays out largely depends on five individual, internally generated traits. Since perfect attainment of these traits is not possible for us mere mortals, I am listing them as goals:

1. Kindness
2. Compassion
3. Self-discipline (includes self-restraint, self-control and self-motivation)
4. Personal Integrity
5. Detachment

I will have more to say on these in the Musings and future blog entries, but for now it is enough to note that as everything we currently assume is permanent evaporates, the temptation to narcissism, negativity and violence will rise proportionately. Our defense, individually and collectively, is not so much a fruitless devotion to reforming failing systems as an individual, intrinsically personal devotion to kindness, compassion, self-discipline, integrity and (perhaps surprisingly to those with little exposure to Eastern philosophy) detachment.

As things fall apart in the coming decade, reforms will fail, half-measures will fail, platitudes will fail, lip service will fail, appeals to past glory will fail--every response of the self-serving status quo will fail. What will not fail is Kindness, Compassion, Self-discipline, Personal Integrity and Detachment from all that has failed and all that is negative, destructive and counter-productive. 

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The Nearly Free University and The Emerging Economy:
The Revolution in Higher Education

Reconnecting higher education, livelihoods and the economy

With the soaring cost of higher education, has the value a college degree been turned upside down? College tuition and fees are up 1000% since 1980. Half of all recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed, revealing a deep disconnect between higher education and the job market.

It is no surprise everyone is asking: Where is the return on investment? Is the assumption that higher education returns greater prosperity no longer true? And if this is the case, how does this impact you, your children and grandchildren?


We must thoroughly understand the twin revolutions now fundamentally changing our world: The true cost of higher education and an economy that seems to re-shape itself minute to minute.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy clearly describes the underlying dynamics at work - and, more importantly, lays out a new low-cost model for higher education: how digital technology is enabling a revolution in higher education that dramatically lowers costs while expanding the opportunities for students of all ages.

The Nearly Free University and the Emerging Economy provides clarity and optimism in a period of the greatest change our educational systems and society have seen, and offers everyone the tools needed to prosper in the Emerging Economy.

Read the Foreword, first section and the Table of Contents.

print edition (list $20, now $18)

Kindle edition: list $9.95 

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Things are falling apart--that is obvious. But why are they falling apart? The reasons are complex and global. Our economy and society have structural problems that cannot be solved by adding debt to debt. We are becoming poorer, not just from financial over-reach, but from fundamental forces that are not easy to identify. We will cover the five core reasons why things are falling apart:

1. Debt and financialization
2. Crony capitalism
3. Diminishing returns
4. Centralization
5. Technological, financial and demographic changes in our economy

Complex systems weakened by diminishing returns collapse under their own weight and are replaced by systems that are simpler, faster and affordable. If we cling to the old ways, our system will disintegrate. If we want sustainable prosperity rather than collapse, we must embrace a new model that is Decentralized, Adaptive, Transparent and Accountable (DATA).

We are not powerless. Once we accept responsibility, we become powerful.

Kindle: $9.95       print: $24

Thank you, Boris P. ($5/month), for your wondrously generous subscription to this site-- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.