Lately, for reasons that simply boggle the mind, there has been a lot of talk about kings and emperors and authoritarians of all character and class (or lack thereof). The world seems to be falling back into its old “comfortable” ways of abdication of responsibility to a strong “Dear Leader” to pledge one’s fealty and blindly follow without question, and thus without thought. We are experiencing events not seen in nearly 100 years, and many see harsh and staggering parallels with the Weimar Republic just before the fall. I see this as a terrible yet inevitable inflection point within our global society long in decline, beginning in the late 20th century, but rapidly accelerating since the advent of the internet and social media and the radical polarity and sociopolitical tribalism fomented by unbridled, uncurated, and unlimited global communication. I believe this inflection point presents a fundamental dilemma that will determine the trajectory of our world for years, decades, even centuries to come. The horns of this critical dilemma present us with two radically divergent paths: one following strong authoritarian leaders into a dystopian society driven by the exclusive Triumph of the Will of sociopathic and psychopathic dictators, oligarchs, and their […]