As anyone who has read my book The Shift Age or has heard me deliver a presentation of the same name knows, Accelerating Electronic Connectedness is one of the three fundamental forces of the Shift Age. Since 2007, I have consistently stated that this force will not only create a global connectivity that will empower developing countries by lessening ignorance and challenging institutional authority, it will also create an extension of McLuhan’s electric global village.

In a recent column titled “Shift Age Forecasts,” I discussed the déjà vu type of reality I live as many of my forecasts come true. I stated that I would review some of the ones listed in that column to provide deeper examination of why they have become reality. In that column, I stated:

“-Accelerating Electronic Connectedness, one of the three fundamental forces of the Shift Age, would manifest itself in part with great political upheavals as connected individuals blow down the walled gardens of ignorance and political tyranny.

“Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya as the beginning. The nervousness in Iran, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia and China is palpable.”

This was a forecast I first made in 2008 when questioned about what effect this accelerating connectedness would have on dictators and Islamic nations.

When people connect via the Internet on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, they in effect become their own mini media companies. Twentieth-century power structures obtained power in a time when actual media companies – and only media companies – created media content. Now, every company, …

[Note:  This is a column reprinted from the current "Shift Age Newsletter" as it is very timely and has already received a lot of positive comment.  If you are not yet a subscriber of the newsletter, please go here and click on FREE subscription]

Those of you who have either read “The Shift Age” or have heard me speak about the Shift Age, know that the accelerating global electronic connectedness is one of the three forces that has, is and will continue to reshape our world.  There are now 4 billion cell phone subscribers in the world.  Facebook has more that 200 million users.  Twitter is approaching 20 million users and all these numbers are increasing every day.

There is no longer any time, distance or place in human communication. That both transforms reality and creates new realities and opportunities.  It is as though human communication is completely fluid and like water, can flow anywhere without boundaries, channels or hierarchies.  Humans can interact with other humans in ways never before experienced in history.  Our connectedness is a force in and of itself.

What has occurred these past few weeks in Iran will be regarded as one of the events in the geopolitical world that is both a confirmation of this new force and a signpost to our future global orientation.

Even a month ago, it would have seemed hard for most people to imagine that Twitter tweets would be used as news sources about a major event in the New York Times, …

China is nothing less than a historical phenomenon. In just 30 years the country has moved from being a closed, communist country with a rural economy to one of the most economically powerful countries of the world.  It is the first country in history to move from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age to the Information Age and now to the Shift Age in 30 years.  The U.S took 200 years to do this.  This must always be kept in mind when looking at China.

It would be impossible to move this rapidly without significant problems, disruptions and upheavals.  These must be expected to occur when such change occurs with such lightening speed, historically speaking.  I have written several times about China and the problems they have.   Back in August of this year, when the Beijing Olympics was a topic of conversation, I forecast that, with the Olympics over, major problems would emerge in China for the next year or two. [This prediction and others I have made can be seen at the bottom of this page.]

There are three forces that are and will cause disruption in China for the next 18-24 months.  The first is the parental love of a child and the boundless rage a parent feels when that child’s life is taken due to incompetence and corruption.  The Chinese government mandates that parents can only have one child.  Certain levels of government in China allowed schools to be built with below …

Yes, Dachau, the first major concentration camp opened by the Nazis.

As a futurist visiting Dachau, I had a similar viewpoint that I touched upon in the recent post on Berlin: how looking back at awful events can help us today and that the awful events of today, when taken in a historical perspective, are not as bad as we think they might be.  So many people I talk to are depressed and nervous about the direction of the world today.  While I think that there will most definitely be rough and turbulent times ahead, I am optimistic about the future when looking 10, 20 and 30 years out.

As I have written in  ‘Blog Origins’ and am writing in my book, I believe that humanity will have the opportunity to take our collective next step in the decades ahead.  To be able to do so we must fully come to terms with where we have failed in the past so that we can prepare ourselves for the opportunity that lies ahead.

Last week I visited Dachau, which is in a suburb of Munich.  Here are the facts:
-it opened in 1933 and remained a concentration camp until liberation in 1945
-during that 12 year period approximately 206,000 people entered the camp
-the camp was first set up as a place for political enemies of the state after Hitler had a law passed through the legislature allowing him to hold anyone in ‘protective custody’ without the due process of the courts
-from …

It is easy for us all to get caught up in our lives. It is also very easy to think that times have never been worse in the world, that the world problems of ‘our time’ are more serious than in the past. As a futurist, I try to look closely at the present, but from the perspective of the rhythms or waves of history and recent history to best get a clear view of the near future.

Leaving a U.S. full of news stories about Korean missiles, new killings in the Middle East [no real surprise there], civil war and terrorism in Iraq, fear of terrorism at home and a drifting and incompetent Presidency, I flew to Germany for a vacation trip with my son, starting with 6 days in Berlin.

Berlin is simply the most impressive city I have seen in a long time, but I will write about that in coming posts, as it truly feels like a city of the future. For now, let’s take a look at what I saw in one day within walking distance of my hotel.

First, an outdoor exhibit that has been up for 9 years called “The Topography of Terror” that is in a park-vacant lot that used to be the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. In exact and chilling historical detail this exhibit told the history of the two darkest parts of the Third Reich, profiled a number of victims as examples and then told the story of the Nuremberg …