Hastening a global reboot

CAVEAT: below is muddled thoughts as I think them, will edit as I go over time.

The tweets over the weekend by Umair Haque (@umairh ) seemed designed to create panic.  Today Umair lays the foundation for what appears to be a series of simple explanations behind his panic. His first post has made me think and I will definitely be reading this series: http://umairhaque.blogspot.com/2011/05/opulence-bubble-simplicity-mix.html  .

My thoughts over the weekend re his posts were couched in readings on the effect of mass panic on stock markets that knock on to economies.  To assuage fear and panic, I hope Haque later suggests positively what consumers can do. Yes consumer debt is way too high and needs to be reduced aka no more buying $3000 handbags during lavish global holiday extravaganzas on credit and such foolish silliness.  Secondly consumers need a greater motivation to be debt free (although fear and panic works).  But the answer cannot be 'stop buying' but perhaps buy better.  A sudden global reboot (as suggested by any message to 'stop buying') would be more painful than it need be.

Creative destruction takes time, and Haque's actions appear to be designed to hasten change rapidly (or promote a new book?).  It's risky. Alternately, one could ponder that the shift has already started and is a lot further developed than can be estimated because it isn't measurable or it falls outside of traditional measurement, it subverts the dominant paradigm.  For example, is anyone recording the $/volume of sales of 2nd hand goods?

Rather than panic and fear, is there an easy to follow, explicit guide/list of intelligent, sustainable, reuse, humane businesses/practices consumers should use to hasten the "titanic global reconfiguration" adjustment?  Has the global parallel economy been identified and described explicitly in a way consumers can grasp? (aka not in HBR talk).

Can influencers promote a list of businesses/practices? or is that already happening but the message isn't getting through to consumers because dominant incumbents are protecting their power base?  The underground/parallel economy needs to be made explicit?  How will individual governments react - with incumbents or change agents?  History isn't kind to that, but recent history is definitely kinder.

It will be good to read responses from economists and people I respect to Haque's manifesto.

!!!!ELVIS!!!!

Eric Alper (@thatericalper) adoringly put this awesome gem on his twitter feed.

ThatEricAlper Eric Alper

Elvis out of his mind and at the peak of his powers at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, 1970. http://dld.bz/YrBj

1 May

It was !!!!ELVIS!!!! so obviously I watched it. It’s noteworthy for just how tight and good the band sound (the bass guitar! whoooarh!!) and digging the crowd digging him.   Aren’t we lucky to have ‘free’ easy access to this material?  While watching I felt conflicted.  Namely:

1. His voice is superb, his body lithe, his crowd adoring, as Alper noted he’s at the top of his game.  Yet also, Alper notes, off his face.  His nonchalance verges on boredom and perhaps complacency, cruise control.  He’s too comfortable, too confident, it’s too easy.  Musicians need to be challenged, perhaps need an occasional failure to keep them striving, need the occasional reality check sans minders, perhaps need to wing it a little and digress from the setlist or jam? Maybe we all do in our lives and work.  The audience is all too adoring, but well.....  he was the KING and is his voice IS one of the best.  Maybe over-adoration led to complacency, maybe someone should have heckled.    Or maybe this is an encore and he’s already done the hard yards warming up the audience – although looking at it I can’t see too much sweat going on (yes I’m looking that closely).

2. I'm old enough to remember this song and the !!!!ELVIS!!!! Las Vegas era (as a kiddie whose Mum is a massive !!!!ELVIS!!!! fan)– it was 7 years before punk and this might be said to represent the era of excess and ‘comfort music’?  I recall at around the mid-70s living in New Zealand and being disgusted at the music on the radio there – even as a young kid I knew something was wrong, it was bland and irrelevant. But !!!!ELVIS!!!! was always KING.  Anyway I’m digressing…  I’ve lately have been listening and enjoying a fair bit of Las Vegas !!!!ELVIS!!!! (including this song) - perhaps it means the industry is at the end of it’s cycle and needing another disruption?  Yes it needs one, but will it happen?  I've been buying more old music lately than new music and that's a bad sign that I'm hoping is just cyclical - we all go through phases of disinterest and I'm hoping to get excited about something new soon.

3. Just as the song picks up speed the camera zooms in and out. It’s cute, novel, but distracting.  The distraction is an example of how technologists and their technology so often get in the way of the message when left unchecked.

4. Towards the end reminded me of that theory about how a persons’ dance style reflects their ‘bedroom style’.  Hoo wee.

5. It is so easy to watch this in hindsight with an armchair critics perspective, so I’ll stop now.