Most knowledgeable, thoughtful people now concede that there has never been any time in history when the human race has faced so much change. It is, paradoxically, both the best and worst of times. Opportunity abounds, but the economic, societal, and technological foundations of the Machine Age are crumbling. Confounded by chaos and heavily pressured for results, most Western managers have no better ideas for how to compete than to endlessly copy each other, cut costs, and buy up rivals. Not every firm is declining, of course.
Globalization impacts national politics, sometimes in ugly ways.
Our society is having trouble focusing on, much less coming to grips with, these issues, for two basic reasons. The first is that in an age of information overload, reality can be made elusive. That means the end of truth. Many politicians, executives, corporations, and governments are exceptionally effective at misdirection and covering up unpleasant truths. It is hard to fix problems when much of what we believe to be so, is not.