Bold New World...
A Summary of the Book
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BOLD
NEW WORLD is a visionary book. It
challenges, it excites, and it is extremely readable. Bravo! - Tom Peters
Just
as Future Shock and Megatrends
significantly altered the way we think about societal change in the century
just ended, BOLD NEW WORLD: The Essential
Road Map to the 21st Century transforms
our perception of the future yet again. In
this prescient work, William Knoke examines our rapidly evolving world hurtles
us into the new millennium.
Moving beyond merely describing trends, futurist Knoke analyzes the
dynamic forces that link these trends and offers a revealing synthesis that
explains not only what is happening,
but why and how it will affect every
one of us.
Laying
the groundwork for his visionary predictions, Knoke introduces fresh language
describing the new realities he foresees in the 21st century.
In BOLD NEW WORLD,
Knoke asserts that we are entering the Age
of Everything- Everywhere, where the effortless flow of people, products,
and knowledge from one location to another is creating a world where near
equals far. Brought on by revolutions in communications and
transportation technologies, it is creating a Fourth Dimension that transcends time and space.
It is this erosion of the primacy
of place, the principal foundation on which all traditional economic,
political, and social structures have been built, Knoke contends, that is
leading to "one of the largest societal upheavals the world has ever
known."
President
and Founder of the Harvard Capital Group, Knoke is a trained economist and
business strategist. In BOLD
NEW WORLD, he draws on his extensive background to outline how wealth will
be created, corporations will be organized, our personal lives will change, and
society will govern itself in this new placeless
society. Knoke gives readers a
preview of this world without place, in
which:
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the nation-state has crumbled |
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world government is in effect |
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religion has been revitalized as a major force shaping
global politics |
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wealth is no longer restrained by labor, capital, and raw
materials |
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giant corporations have fragmented into smaller, more
adaptable units, generating turbocapitalism |
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cultural identity is not anchored to a country or even a
continent |
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terrorist-warriors wield unprecedented power |
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the labor skills of the 20th century are already
irrelevant for tomorrow |
In
fictional scenarios that introduce each chapter, Knoke illustrates how these
trends will affect the everyday existence of men and women, from all levels of
society. Among the lives depicted
are CEOs, warfare terrorists, students utilizing placeless technologies,
housekeepers, and religious zealots.
William
Knoke's BOLD NEW WORLD is a
compelling book on the future that is different from any of its predecessors.
Describing the specific current events that are bringing the future into
being right now, it offers practical advice on how we can prepare
today for the changes that Knoke
predicts. BOLD NEW WORLD skillfully encompasses the breadth of the challenges
we face today, while cogently analyzing the forces that will determine our destiny
over the next two decades. With it,
individuals can clearly read the signposts that lie ahead and steer a course
that will enable them to take advantage of the boundless opportunities of the
bold new world to come.
New Terms that Define our Future
Terms unveiled in Bold New World
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The Age of Everything
Everywhere: The era we are currently entering, in which people, products,
and knowledge flow effortlessly from one place to another, with near and far
becoming the same thing.
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The Amoeba Form: The
mixing and matching of resources that allows us to develop alliances with
multiple companies, and utilize placeless technologies to bring together workers
throughout the world, in an infinitely dynamic way, to create economic wealth.
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Digital Capital: No
longer a physical object, capital is defined by electronic symbols.
High tech and transnational, it can range from ethereal numbers that show
up on an accountant's balance sheet, to blips on a computer screen.
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The Fourth Dimension: Brought
on by rapidly evolving communications and transportation technologies, it gives
us the ability to transcend time and space in our daily lives, and exist in a
world no longer defined by place.
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Global Tribes: The
affiliation between individuals of common interests, beliefs, and cultures in
diverse lands that are brought together by free choice, not by a shared country
of origin.
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Globocorps:
Corporate giants that not only have distinct operations in two or more
countries, but are also managed as if nations did not exist: there is only the
world. Ignoring political lines, owing no national allegiance, they
blend chameleon-like into the local landscape, with their corporate headquarters
unconstrained by "place." They will produce the most innovative,
cost-effective products and services, by combining the best talents and resources
from around the world.
·
The Millennium Generation: The
children of the "Now Generation," they take their cultural cues from
T.V, video games, and the Internet. How
and from whom they learn ethics is at risk.
They are destined to forge a new revolution in social values.
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The New Warfare: Guerrilla
and terrorist wars of the future will ignore national boundaries and the
distinction between soldier and civilian. Their most powerful weapon will be raw fear.
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The Placeless Society: The
coming omnipresence that will allow everything-people, goods, resources,
knowledge-to be available anywhere, often simultaneously, with little regard for
distance or place.
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