In the year 2020, in the year 2020!!!!!!!!!
The Wall Street Journal tackles a pernicious trend taken root in governance and corporate America. The rise of the 2020 report!
But not just any 2020 report, there are multiple organizations that have rolled out documentation called Vision 2020, which, as the WSJ reports, has dismayed eye doctors for hijacking their phraseology.
Behold some of the offerings:
Vision 2020: NYC Comprehensive Waterfront Plan – NYC.gov
Strategic Plan – Vision 2020 – Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Vision 2020 – Siemens AG (PDF warning)
Futuristic reports like these are very easy to churn out seemingly credible accounts, but they fail to illuminate upon closer inspection. They mostly follow the idea that globalization will continue, culture is important, and the world is changing rapidly. And so?
Perhaps a little over two years from now is not an important milestone. AI will be improved, remarkably so, but will it have reshaped our world yet? The erosion of the human workforce is approaching, but can anyone even credibly predict what that will mean and how we’ll address that?
I’d like to see someone take a crack at Vision: 3030 (someone else besides Deltron, that is). Will we all be half-cyborgs? Will the rock on which we currently stand be burning and will we have escaped it? Not sure, but I’m willing to bet culture will be important and globalization will be continuing
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Today’s Bonus Thought
Some damning reportage out of Forbes on Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross regarding his net worth. It is said that he has exaggerated his finances by a figure of $2 billion! The entire piece is a study in abject narcissism, where you are left shaking your head at the amount of time Mr. Ross spent haranguing Forbes about accurately depicting his wealth and then trying to weasel out of reportage of his deception. Of all of our great pathologies, our self worth over our net worth is one of the most destructive.