We lack the will to change
“We have the money, the technological base, and the human talent,” he writes. What we lack is the will to change. These robots don’t have a lobby to rival the giant defense contractors.
And here-in lies the problem. We've created a system of elected leaders that care about their legacy than they do about their kids'.
There is only one way to honor their legacy and to create the future we want for our own children and grandchildren, and that’s to build.
But, like Eric Weinstein is so often saying: we need to get rid of the current leadership. Look at our current presidential election: Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden is 77 and Trump is 73.
There's historical precedence for this, and the baby boomer generation has the expectations that they deserve what their neighbor has, without realizing how different the world has become.
Think of America's military power like what is happening in its retail sector.
"As e-commerce grows, it will pull more stores out of ground-floor retail locations. Many of these spaces will stay empty for months, removing the bright awnings, cheeky signs, and crowded windows that were the face of their neighborhood. Long stretches of cities will feel facelessly anonymous."
And this will have a devastating effect on American cities. Why live in an apartment complex that touts walk ability to a grocery store when you get your groceries delivered to your door? Why, and what, are you paying a premium for?
"In the past few years, American cities have begun to exhale many residents, who have moved to smaller metros and southern suburbs. As with so many other trends, the pandemic will accelerate that exodus. Empty storefronts will beget empty apartments on the floors above them."
The concept is the same. Technological advances are making entire industries obsolete. Why can't technology advances of entire nations make some nations obsolete as well?
France, England, Germany, Japan. All of these nation's were global powerhouses until they weren't. The US has held the mantle since its infancy. But it will be up to us - my generation - to steward in the dawn of a new era.