Sherman’s News and Editorials

I recently read a superb book called ‘The Sovereign Individual’.
I wanted to read it because Robert Kiysaki had listed it as an influential or important book in one of his own books. One of the writers of this book is Lord Reese-Mogg, who specializes in global long range investments and thus makes predictions accordingly
that can impact how one should invest. One of his principal points is that there is a big shift about every five hundred years in Western civilization which has major repurcussions the world over.
Just as in the 1492 marks the official beginning of the industrial age, 1992, the year the world wide web went truly wide, is the official start of the information age.
According to Mogg, this transistion will be much more pronounced even than the shift to the agrarian or industrial age since microprocessing will have a more world-altering impact on human society over time. He also states that by the year 2040  world will look radically different than
it does now as many industrial age institutions change drastically out of necessity, much as the church did at the start of the industrial age. All in all,  Mogg says huge changes are inevitable. Just like changes made from the invention of the printing press during the industrial age could not really be halted once they got going,
so too will the shifts from microprocessing be. He and his co-writer aslo made the insightful point that, during the early stages of these types of these epic transitions, those on the edge rarely realize how severe the changes will be.
At the time the first printing press was invented, for instance, the church had a total monopoly on the making of books such as the Bible. It was time-consuming work that required a high degree of skill. Not many people actually understood then the full ramifications that this seemingly benign invention would have. The Church quickly declined in power. Very soon manuals could be reproduced in many different localities.  A factory which produced an industrial product in Britain could quickly be duplicated in Italy, the U.S. or Germany. Instruction manuals could be easily made universal across the continents. Very soon the standard of living of the advanced nations went up massively. Low skill workers could now move to urban areas and earn a wage far above their usual pittance. The Feudal era was dominated by different town guilds in which a few skilled individuals dominated certain crafts such as hat-making shoemaking and
commanded large incomes. But quickly the unskilled workers could go to a factory and earn a wage well above the subsistence level.
Now we are at the beginning of a similar transistion…….. The changes of this shift will indeed be huge, particularly as the cost of wireless networks continues to go down. I suggest that you brace your self because it will be a roller coaster ride for sure. Some folks will gain from it, others that cling to outdated ideas will lose status, unfortunately.

In general, folks who cling to or relay on industrial era benefits such as a lifetime pension or medicare will suffer the most. Many will drop out of the middle class over time, it would seem.
Entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, however will get richer at an ever younger age.  It will be a wild time in that respect, according to Mogg.
Is there anything to be wary of in this new information driven economy? Well we have to be beware of mega-mergers perhaps more than ever. If we get to a point where, say, ninety percent of all purchases are made online, and the big search portals then merge, it
will be easier than ever for the big companies to monopolize the marketplace, since most people tend to find things via a handful of search engines now. What can you do to prepare. You may consider an information age home based business like Freelife International or something similiar instead of clinging to deceptive job security.