Nov 12, 2022·edited Nov 12, 2022Liked by Wessie du Toit
A great essay. 'There are moments when we see our current reality as provisional.' The last paragraph is spot on in describing the current mood. It's an exciting, yet also quite a scary time to be alive.
I'm currently reading 'Joel Kotkin's book on Neo Feudalism and it's curious that some of those advocating for the 'dramatic change' are looking to the distant past. The 'allure of feudalism' as Kotkin puts it courts both progressive environementalists and anti-modernist conservatives.
'Feudalism' is probably an exaggeration for the slightly poorer, more limited and technocratic future most of us in Britain, if not the West may have to put up with. But I wonder how much energy those new forms of design will put into cloaking this reality...
Yes, design definitely plays a role in creating legitimacy for a new worldview. Neo-feudalism is an interesting idea though I confess I didn’t finish the book. I think Kotkin is right that moral ideas like environmentalism could be used to justify a kind of aristocracy in a post-abundance world.
A great essay. 'There are moments when we see our current reality as provisional.' The last paragraph is spot on in describing the current mood. It's an exciting, yet also quite a scary time to be alive.
I'm currently reading 'Joel Kotkin's book on Neo Feudalism and it's curious that some of those advocating for the 'dramatic change' are looking to the distant past. The 'allure of feudalism' as Kotkin puts it courts both progressive environementalists and anti-modernist conservatives.
'Feudalism' is probably an exaggeration for the slightly poorer, more limited and technocratic future most of us in Britain, if not the West may have to put up with. But I wonder how much energy those new forms of design will put into cloaking this reality...
Yes, design definitely plays a role in creating legitimacy for a new worldview. Neo-feudalism is an interesting idea though I confess I didn’t finish the book. I think Kotkin is right that moral ideas like environmentalism could be used to justify a kind of aristocracy in a post-abundance world.