Revolutionary Reflections: Harnessing Historical Wisdom

As I described in my recent post, Fareed Zakaria’s recent book, “Age of Revolution,” provides an examination of the forces that shaped our modern world. From the revolutions of the past, Zakaria articulates the seismic shifts that have redefined global dynamics, influenced political landscapes, and reshaped societal structures. In a world that looks eerily like prior periods of revolution, there is much we can learn by analyzing history. However, analysis is meaningless if we do not learn from the past, and historically, we have failed to do so. It was Henry Kissinger that once said: “it is not often that nations learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.” Analyzing periods that look like our current day is the first step, but it’s the application of these lessons to our current context that enables constructive pathways.

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Technology Trap

I recently added a fascinating book titled Technology Trap to my Book Library. Author Carl Benedikt Frey has done some important work in partnership with Michael A. Osborne evaluating the impact of automation on the Future of Work. In this new work of applied history, Frey draws on past revolutions to look at possible corollaries. It was Winston Churchill that said: The further Backward you Look, the Further Forward you can See. That quote has stuck with me, prompting my Looking back to see Ahead. Here is the book abstract:

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