rxdxt

Decline and rise of an empire

So I've often stated that we are living through the decline of the American empire. Given the events of October 2008 I think few would disagree (predicted here). The question of who will rise, however, is always a topic of some debate.

The general consensus is that it's an emerging Market, the usual subjects are China, India, and Brazil with the occasional dark horses of Russia/CIS and even the EU.

At the Between conference in Capri last week over dinner, some friends and I were having this exact discussion. I gave my usual pronouncement that while I admire the Market power of China as an entrepreneur I find it a difficult place to believe in due the existence of only the carrot of market opportunity with no stick of legal/international due process. I pushed my straw man Eu theory (see earlier blog post) and someone raised the ever present counter of India. I found myself struck by a sudden realization. The rise of the American empire was really and innately about dominance of the American media & entertainment business. The cultural imperialism of cinema, music and tv drove demand for goods and services in the world which in turn positioned the us as a world leader in hearts and minds. The rest, as they say is history!

Under this methodology the new and rising media force in the world is actually India - more specifically bollywood! Their voracious output paired with rising - though confusing  - cultural adoption in MENA and Asia make an excellent case for India as the next world empire. Add this to the enormous percentage of the World's millionaires who, thanks to silicon valley and the h1 visa include a greater percentage of Indians than any other!  Something to ponder as we consider the future, yet I know a few things about the future:
It's viral, the future empire will build through cellular infection, not through military or mass Market dominance

It will intrinsically understand sustainability and that in a closed system inputs and outputs must always be equal, wheel of life indeed.

It will look nothing like today, yet is is just around the corner 

(note edited for clarity - note to self, don't blog at 3am)

Makes you think...

Yesterday I attended the monthly management meeting at the BBC (hosted by Mark Thompson), in addition to lots of boring or secret bits, we recieved an amazing synopsis of the financial crisis, by the BBC editor in charge of coverage. I sat, truly in awe of the nature of circumstances we are watching. While I've been mostly out of the stock Market for months awaiting this crash, I am still astonished at it's speed and ferocity. The editor pointed out to us many facts about howtiis mess had spiraled out of control and how the measures we used furthered that spiral.

But today it became real to me. In my car this am my driver talked about how his wives inheritence was deposited in icesave and rbos, and how he banked with b&b, while an uncomfortable coincidence listening to him fret (and rightfully so) I suddenly was struck by how lucky and blessed I am. I have an anaIng wife, most of my money, a good job and two amazing children, what more could someone ask for?

Suddenly, for a brief moment, I was in that state we bhuddists pursue, one of pure desirelessness.

Off to Capri to speak - Friday is a big day for me, I have a lot decisions about my future to make.

On Vox: Mashing up video...

A friend of mine shared a new company with me (new to me I guess) Check out www.popmorphic.com . Their focus is on music videos currently, but I think there is something rather magical about this offering.  - I'm going to learn more - but my 1st thought was that we could use this to allow audiences of something like BBC Archive, to mashup or recombine videos into new elements - similar to a concept called Creative Archive, which has been drifting around for a while..

Products like garage band and this bring amazingly powerful creative tools to the masses.  Just like recording technology did at the beginning of my career.  The creation of the home studio brought us a flood of mediocre new age demo tapes -but it also brought us some amazing creativity, like Beck & Moby in the pop world. Personally I love the idea that technology can be a facilitator to bringing more people to the creative process.  Given the chaos in our world right now, this can only be a good thing - I can't wait for the outcome.

Thoughts anyone?

Originally posted on rxdxt.vox.com