The world is at the crossroads.
While the social and political systems of the past lifted millions out of poverty and shaped our national and global policies were overall satisfactory in attaining certain goals, in the post industrial century they are failing us. One problem is antiquated laws that are ill-suited to deal with contemporary problems. What is needed today is a set of interconnected activities that have the goal of shifting the structures of our social and economic systems to succeed in the area where previous industrial revolutions have failed to deliver sustainable benefits to all citizens, including for our future generations.
Realistically, we face the task of understanding and governing 21st-century technologies with a 20th-century mindset and 19th-century institutions.
Improved living standards and well-being were not evenly distributed as the past industrial revolutions progressed. Today, as a result, the world continues to struggle with a range of challenges: median wages in advanced economies are stagnating or falling despite staggering economic growth for some, developing economies are struggling to translate economic growth into broad-based, sustainable progress in living standards; and nearly one in 10 people live in extreme poverty unnecessarily .
The question posed is: what type of thinking, and what kind of institutions do we need, to create a world where everyone has the chance to benefit from the highest possible levels of human development?
While I can't answer that that question for you,
I can say with certainty,
that the mindsets, institutions, and practices of the past
are not the answer.
We need new thinking, and fresh proposals.
And we need this now.
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