We are living through the beginning of a period of rapid transformation
And remote workers are a big part of the progress.
Hey reader,
We’re getting deep this week. This essay is a doozy so let’s jump right in.
Community Shoutouts
First, though, welcome to each of the new subscribers since the last dispatch and a big shout out to Julie for opting in to a paid subscription — thank you for your support, it means a lot.
Now, let’s look to the future.
We are living through the beginning of a period of rapid transformation
And remote workers are a big part of the progress.
The New York Times published an excellent article yesterday called “The Search For Intelligent Life Is About To Get A Lot More Interesting.”
Reading this article got me thinking about how we are most certainly living through a period of radical transformation, one that will continue long past the death of everyone currently alive.
It’s talking about space, but the changes are happening everywhere (we’ll get into this below).
The article notes that there are likely about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, and there are likely about 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Adam Frank, an astrophysicist quoted in the article, noted that most all of those stars have at least one planet orbiting them.
What stood out to me most about this article wasn’t merely those statistics or the line of thought indicating that with such vast quantities, some of those planets are bound to have conditions capable of supporting life.
It was what came next. To quote Frank from the article:
“The point is, after 2,500 years of people yelling at each other over life in the universe, in the next 10, 20 and 30 years we will actually get data.”
That’s because of increased technology being blasted out into the universe by humanity with the specific purpose of collecting that data in manners that weren’t possible until very recently.
Whether or not alien life is found (I’m a big Tom Delonge fan, which should tip you off to my opinion on the subject), the exciting part is that there will be data. Actual, verifiable data about whether specific planets contain or have contained life.
Much like working remotely on a laptop from far corners of the globe, being able to confirm or disconfirm alien life on specific planets was all but inconceivable even a generation ago, save that life showing up on our planet and presenting itself.
The forward progress of science and digital technology is moving so fast that by the time I am an old man, much of what was commonplace during my current career will be completely disregarded and irrelevant.
It’s happening across society as a whole, and forward thinkers — like remote workers — are right at the forefront.
Each of aspects I describe below will come together at some point down the line to completely revolutionize life on this planet.
The global shift to renewable energy
Wind and solar power provided 67 percent of new electricity generation in the US in the first half of 2022.
You read that correctly — 67 percent.
In 1990, wind power accounted for .2 percent (two-tenths of one percent), and by 2020, for 31 percent, including both new and existing power sources.
This is why I laugh when I read about major corporations pledging carbon neutrality by 2050, or automakers and surveyors making claims that 60 percent of cars sold in 2050 will be electric.
By 2050, the internal combustion engine will be as irrelevant as the horse-powered carriage is today. Even the thought of buying a gas-powered car in 2040 is laughable. Obtaining large-scale utility power from any non-renewable source will be equally obsolete.
I feel this way because I have at least an elementary ability to look at statistics and compare them to current societal trends.
If you read the news, you hear about electric vehicles and renewable energy every single day. It took nearly six decades for that to become the case, following the launch of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s. It takes time for concepts to enter the mainstream, but when they do, the good ones (the revolutionary innovations) spread like a slow-burning wildfire.
The problem is that in studies and surveys of emerging trends, the one thing often overlooked is that very fact.
Take the cellphone. In 1990, AT&T conducted a study to forecast cell phone adoption by the year 2000. The company concluded that 900,000 cell phones would be operating by the turn of the millennium.
The actual number was 109 million.
The exact same thing is happening today in studies predicting the adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy. Any who say they are on the fence or opposed to an EV are impacting the results of the survey, despite the fact that nearly every single one of them will come around in the very near future, either by choice or because they simply can’t justify not doing so while remaining a part of modern society (you likely knew someone who pledged he or she would never own a cell phone — how is that statement holding up for them today?).
Simply following the curve on both above charts into the next couple of decades is all the proof that one could need.
We’re taking back power from the oil companies, and they know it.
The global shift to remote work by knowledge workers
Remote work has seen similarly rapid adoption of late. This week, 1,300 New York Times employees refused to return to the office.
The same is happening across all industries in which employees stare at computers all day. Technology has reached a point where more autonomy and freedom is attainable through remote work and async schedules.
Those in power don’t want to relinquish their power, but much like what happened with the rise of labor unions more than a century ago, the workers are realizing that they actually have the power because they are the ones burning the calories to produce the value that the companies need to survive.
Solidarity!
I have discussed this at length in prior dispatches:
Remote work is the answer public transit and inter-city bus services have been looking for all along
2020 introduced the world to remote work, but not to its real perks
The other topic that must be addressed here
I’ll start this section by stating that I am not a Bitcoin evangelist. I remain cautiously skeptical of the current crypto scene and have put a very minute amount of money into it over the past three years. I’m speaking of Bitcoin here as a big-picture concept, and am not in any way saying you should invest your money in it.
Just hear me out.
Another aspect of this that needs mentioning is Bitcoin. Not cryptocurrencies in general, just Bitcoin specifically. That’s because Bitcoin is the one truest example of a currency that is not controlled by a small group of people pulling levers. Its founder is anonymous and has no vested stake. Every transaction using Bitcoin is cataloged and inalterable.
It would seem that the global adoption of a currency like Bitcoin (or a future iteration) has the potential to fundamentally reshape financial systems by eliminating the possibility of “dark money” — corporate interests pouring millions into politics, for example, or international crime syndicates remaining undercover while raking in big bucks.
Furthermore, the global adoption of a translucent digital currency could give location-independent workers like ourselves an easier way to invoice work, account for expenses and income, and move across international borders with less confusion or risk of unintentionally violating tax laws.
This argument was first proposed in the 1997 book “The Sovereign Individual,” by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg. The pair predicted then that in the near future, location-independent people would run online businesses using digital currency that allowed them to take back some of the power from large financial institutions, while conducting their work seamlessly around the world in a legitimate manner.
Many arguments in this book I do not agree with. But they hit this one point right on the head. It hasn’t come to fruition just yet, but it could, either through Bitcoin or a future incarnation of a global digital currency.
Furthermore, the book “Digital Nomad,” written by Tsugio Makimoto and published that same year, made a similar claim about the power of modern technology to allow individuals more autonomy in their work and personal lives, making the world a better and more just place as a result. Hmmm. . .
The explosion of discussion surrounding Bitcoin over the past three to five years could be the beginning of the massive societal shift towards a future acceptance of digital currency. Like many groundbreaking startups, concepts, and innovations that launch a movement, Bitcoin very well might not be the one that stands the test of time, but something inspired by it just might be.
People want transparency around money. And around voting. And from their leaders.
According to a poll from the Center for Public Integrity, 88 percent of Americans across the political spectrum want to dramatically limit or even eliminate the influence of large corporate donors in politics (i.e., most lobbyists).
Voters don’t want dark money hanging over elections and politics. Citizens don’t want to feel trapped by or ripped off by their banks or investment vehicles. The progression of this concept in the coming decades could lead to more power for the everyday person to remain in control of their finances, their vote, and their freedom of speech.
Couple that with ever-increasing location independence and the renewable-powered electrification of the global economy, and it seems right to say that many things now considered the norm, are slowly going the way of the buffalo (which, ironically, are making a massive comeback).
I don’t know exactly where these transformations will lead, but they have surely begun.
Mountain Remote news and further reading
There are now 6,200 coworking spaces in the US, used by nearly 1 million people. I’m proud to be one of them.
Earlier this summer, I traveled through Israel. I found Jerusalem to be a fascinating city, and an unexpected bastion of tolerance simmering beneath the surface.
We close this week with a bit of high-altitude inspiration, since Colorado saw its first dusting of snow two nights ago. Here are the best snowboard films coming out this year, according to The Manual.
See you next week!