“All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”
– Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto
How did we get here?
Marx and Engels wrote the above in order to decry the broader technological changes that were occurring in England at the time. They found out the hard way that history, like a slippery substance, always escapes our grasp; we have to deal with change and despite the future’s paralyzing force, it’s impossible to run away from it.
In our time, we’re greeting the same foe, merely in a different body. For this reason, I’ve always been intrigued by ideas at the intersect of technology, history, and economics – it seems like the most interesting problems fall into all three categories. I’ve written a lot about these ideas on my blog, but I feel that Substack is the best way I can give my 1000 true fans justice over the long run.
Some ideas I have in mind:
• The history of Venture Capital and how it’ll evolve in the future.
• How companies like Neuralink will change the bedrock of society and perhaps give philosophers the rude awakening they need.
• Can we move to underwater cities? Why hasn’t Atlantis been made yet?
• Is space colonization really happening this century?
We can’t predict the future, but we can make sure we’re ready for whatever challenges appear our way. If everything that was once solid is melting around us, the best way to handle it is with a prepared mind. Indeed, reality is often stranger than fiction, so let’s see how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
The aesthetic I’m going for: