Kuala Lumpur, September 2024
Welcome to Vol. 3 of Interesting Times 🗞️. Check out Vol. 1 & 2 below ⬇️
TL;DR: The old political spectrum (Left vs. Right) is dead. The new divide is Acceleration vs. Deceleration – move faster vs. make it stop. If you feel “politically homeless,” it’s because you’re refusing to pick a bunker in a war that doesn’t care about you.
Recently, I found myself at a dinner party watching friends morph into caricatures of their political beliefs.
The topic was climate change. Within minutes, they were reciting talking points like NPCs with broken dialogue trees. I sat there wondering: when did we stop being able to disagree without vowing to never speak again?
(If I wanted to hang out with clones, I’d just scroll LinkedIn)
Accel vs Decel
The old “Left vs. Right” spectrum is broken. It doesn’t explain the world anymore.
The new divide is simpler: Acceleration vs. Deceleration.
Accels: Get out of my way. Build the AI. Colonize Mars. Break the system. Motto: Move fast and break things.
Decels: Slow down. Regulate it. Ban the AI. Protect the institutions. Motto: Safety first – or else.
This isn’t just about politics – it’s about our relationship with speed.
The Techno-Optimists want to plunge headlong into the unknown. The Safety-Firsters want to keep things exactly as they are (or rewind the clock to 1995).
Both drivers are convinced they own the road. Neither is looking at the cliff.
Family Tech Support Syndrome
Think back to the last time you did IT support for your parents.
You are the Accel: unplug, replug, update, fix it now.
They are the Decel: terrified that clicking “Update” will delete their grandkids’ photos.
As technology accelerates, this divide widens. Eventually, the Accels will merge with the machines; the Decels will opt out to protect their “pure” biology. The generation gap becomes a species gap.
Politically Homeless
In times of extreme polarity, the Silent Majority finds themselves politically homeless.
If you don’t fit neatly into “Burn it all down” or “Change nothing,” you have nowhere to sit at lunch.
We’ve been convinced the future is likely to be worse than the present (insert your personal flavor of armageddon here). So people reach for coping mechanisms: Tech Messiahs, Crypto Bros, Climate Doomerism, Identity Politics.
Let’s run a thought experiment:
Scenario A: We develop benign superintelligence. We solve energy, climate, and scarcity. We usher in an age of abundance.
Scenario B: Society collapses. We fight over water and microchips. Dark Ages 2.0, monitored by an all-seeing surveillance state.
When I run these scenarios, I realize something: extreme optimism and extreme pessimism are actually the same thing. They both say: “The outcome is inevitable, so I don’t need to do anything.”
It’s analysis paralysis dressed up as worldview.
But what if we think about the future differently? The future is likely to be messy, hard, and full of challenges – but human ingenuity is undefeated. We landed on the moon with computers less powerful than a calculator.
We need a campaign: Make The Future Something To Look Forward To Again. (MTFSTLTFA doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, I’ll admit)
Feeling politically homeless isn’t a bug; it’s a feature. It means you’re longing for a vision that reconciles progress with preservation. A vision that admits the future is scary and worth building.
Fight or Flight
When faced with challenges that loom larger than ourselves, humans engage in fight or flight.
Take the U.S. or Europe. While quality of life has improved for the “digital elite,” the heartland has been left behind. Combine the feeling of being forgotten with rising prices and stagnant wages, and you get a cocktail of rage.
What happens when you feel the social contract is broken? You vote for the person who promises to burn it.
In Europe, the boogeyman is immigration. In the U.S., it’s “The Elites.” Tribalism never left. It just got new clothes.
A Global Narrative
Here’s the crux: We have global problems but only local stories.
We’re stuck in national narratives, but our challenges – AI, climate, nukes, pandemics – don’t respect borders. A virus doesn’t check your passport. Carbon doesn’t stop at customs.
Germany shuts down nuclear plants to save the world, risking deindustrialization.
India burns coal to lift millions out of poverty.
The U.S. races to build God-like AI because they’re terrified China will build it first.
It’s a game of musical chairs played with nuclear weapons. And you can’t swipe left on reality.
At a Crossroads
So here we are. The Great Divide.
How do we navigate this landscape without losing our humanity – or worse, our sanity?
A life that defies easy categorization. A life that embraces complexity. A life that engages with ideas that make your brain ache.
In a world obsessed with extremes, the most revolutionary act might be nuance. Not choosing a team. Realizing the game is rigged – and walking off the field.
In interesting times, the most radical act is to cultivate an interesting life.
To be continued in Vol. 4... (maybe) the best is yet to come. 😉
