Thang Nguyen 555

As 2018 comes to an end, it’s time to look back on the whole decade. A time when institutions not individuals that got bailed out, machine-learning not man-enlightening and Communist countries grew faster than Capitalist counterparts.

A time when globalization ran out of steam ( what NAFTA) and got replaced by the “sharing” economy. Sears closed down, and Amazon opens up. GE got delisted and Uber will soon get listed.

Government (US) as of this writing, got shut down i.e. park services closed, Southern border might be closed and if possible, please have your mind closed.

Some time ago, government took care of its people. When there was a recession, Presidents would come up with infrastructure projects like the Erie Canal, the Hoover Dam etc… to create jobs. Today, it’s up to motorists to chip in, “brothers, can you spare a dime”.

Homeless people just shit on the streets, and eat out of garbage cans. Walmart and McDonalds train shoppers to be cashiers at self-check outs. Minimum wages even after the New Year can hardly keep up with inflation. We will soon reach an inflection point, where it’s those robots who earn their keeps, not just in the back room, but also out front.

The quants have had their day and their say. But rest assured, there won’t be another round of bail-outs for institutions. It will be foreign acquisition (back in the 80’s, it’s the Japanese who bought up most of the buildings in Los Angeles, now it’s Google at Westside Pavillion).

Occupy Wall Street could only camp out at nearby park for so long. Are we better off than 10 years ago? The wall will be built by Chinese, the machines run by Indians, foods picked by Mexicans and delivered by Uber. Just the facts of life – a status quo that needs to be sustained until the next round of machine learning and perfecting.

Then, we don’t need to raise the minimum wages, for machines, unlike man, need not to join an union or take breaks. They are on course to creep and cram in to territories and fabrics of our lives (IoT). Next decade will be the decade of sensors, big data and AI. No turning back.

Meanwhile, 2008-2018 is the same old story, of human nature rationalizes to further its own self interests. We have made progress, but at everyone’s expenses. In fact, we are worse off now than our post-Nixon world. At least, back then, college students questioned and took action. Today, everyone rides a scooter, reads the screen and is scared to death of future prospects. No wall is going to protect them since the crisis is manufactured and imagined. Fear resides within and cannot be walled off from without. Tax payers will keep on paying, bailing and praying that there will be justice carried out by machine in case man failed. Breathe and think. Hard.