Future Shock Explains Politics Today

The US political system cannot correct itself until we can understand the various causes of the doom loop we are in. There has been attention given to the structural problems (a gridlocked Congress, etc.) and warped incentives (obscene amounts of money, etc.) that play a major role in our problems and need reform. But they do not explain the seemingly unmoored electorate that unites Bernie Sanders voters with MAGA or motivates a scion of American conservatism to campaign for liberal Kamala Harris.

It is a problem that we all can recognize but can’t seem to define. As is often the case, answers can be found in the past. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave gives us an understanding of how different experiences people have, shapes their perception of reality. A 2,500-year-old lesson that must be taught to every generation--but isn’t.

One only has to look back to 1970 for a partial diagnose of our present-day maladies, when Alvin Toffler published Future Shock. Long considered pseudo social science, nonetheless, the definition of the future shock--the physical and psychological distress suffered by one who is unable to cope with the rapidity of social and technological change—captures the zeitgeist of today.

On reflection, Toffler’s premise is simple. As individuals, we can all acknowledge that people don’t like change. It makes us anxious. Toffler applied this truth to a societal level and while Toffler certainly missed some trees, he saw the dark forest that overwhelms us today: Mass anxiety caused by rapid pace of change.

From the dawn of time until 200 years ago, humans traveled no faster than a horse. Now we can fly to the moon and beyond. It took less than 10 years for smart phone technology (introduced in 2007) and algorithmic social media platforms to up end basic human interactions and communications which we’ve experienced for millennia. Now we stand at a new precipice with Artificial Intelligence, frozen with anxiety about the profound changes that will be measured in years and not centuries.

Future Shock is not just caused by technological change across many aspects of our lives, it is the acceleration of the change. Our great, great grandparents lived a stable (and relatively, primitive) existences with few innovations. Our parents and grandparents experienced various new technologies that rendered their old habits obsolete. But today, we churn through innovations--and the social changes they bring--at the same frequency of watching a new sunset.

Politics is a Lagging Indicator

Of course, the biggest impact of the nascent digital age, since the invention of the microprocessor in 1959, is the world got smaller. That is, it drove globalization and much of the economic and social changes this causes.

For example, more than 150 years of progressive activism around women’s rights and family planning issues did little to advance this cause. It took the technology of the birth control pill to do that. Or capitalist could only dream of efficient supply chains that would drive the costs down for all kinds of products, but only advanced technologies made that happen. Just like the impact of a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a hurricane halfway around the world, these technological changes decades ago are the underlying cause of the social anxiety, the Future Shock, that is unhinged political an social behavior of many Americans in 2025.

Which brings us to the question of how do we mitigate Future Shock, without turning the clocks back? That is an answer that is way beyond the grasp of one person and most likely it is not a problem to solve, but to deal with. For many, just a diagnosis brings relief and helps society cope.

Ideally, just as human intuition navigated us from ancient superstitions to the scientific method, hopefully we can create political and social institutions that are more responsive to mediating the social anxieties the digital age. But sadly, as we look at the horizon, past approaching AI clouds, to issues like transhumanism and uploading our consciousness--2030’s political issues--we are still trapped in our current doom loop, fighting over transgender sports, basic health care needs and endless inane debates the will be forgotten next week.

It's time to start focusing on the important stuff.