In the last three years, I have spoken about how 2012 might well be one of the most change-filled, disruptive years in America in recent memory.  It is a quadrennial election year.  It is the year of the Mayan Prophecy.  It figures to be a year of political conflict between those who want to hold onto the legacy structures and ways of thinking of the 20^th century and those who realize that the 21^st century is a time for new forms and ways of thought.  I had, until recently, felt that, while disruptive, 2012 would be about transformation and new …

[Note: The following column was published in the last Shift Age Newsletter.  If you would like a free subscription to the Newsletter, please click here and fill out the short subscription form]

Many of us attend conferences that are about certain topics, such as new technology, new behaviors or new forms of communicating. Speakers and panels get up on stage and spew new acronyms to show they are experts, or in the know, or specialists. Since we are not sure what they all mean, we think those who speak them must be smart. If we know what the jargon …

[Note:  This column was recently published in my Shift Age Newsletter. Please click here to sign up for a free subscription.]

In the past few months – and particularly the past few weeks – I’ve been asked everyday about what I think the near-term economic future will be. People even ask me about the stock market: Should they buy real estate? What do I think the price of gold might be? Because I’m a futurist who has been correct about some big things, they look to me for investment advice in these incredibly uncertain times.

I am not an …

I have stated the above words several hundred times to audiences around the world since my speaking career as a futurist started to take off in 2007. The context of the statement is my general “The Shift Age” presentation, when I say that we have entered the global stage of human evolution.

Up through the Industrial Age, the highest form of human construct was the nation-state.  National economies, national identities and national cultures shaped thinking. During the Information Age, growing connectivity, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the true beginning of the global economy moved everything to a more global …