Thank you, Steve.

That is what we all have been saying in the past few days, usually with emotion, often deep emotion.  Life went on pause when I first heard the news.  My wife shed tears.  The statements – visual and written – that poured in evoked even more emotion.  How Steve touched people and shaped their lives was stunning.  I sent a condolence email to a friend who has always been ready to convert anyone who isn’t living in the temple of Apple.  If I felt this sad, what was he feeling?

That’s the way it was the day we learned of his passing.  Did you look at and hold your iPhone differently in those hours after you learned?  Did your fingers pause on the keyboard of your MacBook Pro?  Did you hold your iPad to your chest for a moment, not realizing you were doing so?  As you put in a half-hour on the elliptical machine, did you look at your tiny Shuffle clipped onto your shirt and realize how much more enjoyable he made this experience?

It was of one of those few times in our lives when someone we never met died, and we were hit with a powerful feeling of stunned sadness – one that we will never forget.  The reality that he changed our lives, made our lives better, and for many, changed the trajectory of their lives all came rushing in.  We’ve felt this before.  Leaders like Kennedy, King and Kennedy.  Cultural figures like Lennon and …

The recent elections in Berlin brought a breath of fresh air to the old, dull, gray landscape of political parties around the world.  At a time when it is hard to tell the difference between parties as they espouse old, tired, out-of-date ideas, along comes something completely different – the Pirate Party of Berlin.

Prior to the Berlin elections, the predictive articles in the German press were all about the traditional parties and which of them would increase and which would decrease in popularity and legislative influence.  Much of the coverage related to the parties’ relative positions on the Euro crisis and whether the elections would be a mandate on Chancellor Merkel’s position on that critical issue.  It was expected that the ever-more-mainline Green Party – which had been an outsider when compared with the Free Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the other traditional parties – would increase its influence and legislative power.

Well, surprise!   An upstart party called the Pirate Party polled 8.9 percent of the votes, overnight becoming a new force on the political landscape.  Compare that with less than 2 percent of the vote for the Free Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partner, which, because its total was well below the 5 percent needed to remain in the statehouse, is no longer there.

In the post-election press conference, the winning legislators of the Pirate Party – all in their 20s and 30s – showed up in hooded sweatshirts, with one even wearing a Captain America T-shirt.  When the Pirate Party was challenged …

In the last three years, I have spoken about how 2012 might well be one of the most change-filled, disruptive years in America in recent memory.  It is a quadrennial election year.  It is the year of the Mayan Prophecy.  It figures to be a year of political conflict between those who want to hold onto the legacy structures and ways of thinking of the 20^th century and those who realize that the 21^st century is a time for new forms and ways of thought.  I had, until recently, felt that, while disruptive, 2012 would be about transformation and new beginnings.  The metaphor that comes to mind is birth: a process that is quite painful, but ultimately, produces a new, vibrant life.

In recent weeks, I sense that 2012 could well be a dangerous and strife-torn year in the United States.  A year when the fabric of our society will, to some degree, be severely tested.  Here are some recent facts that are disturbing:

- The wealth disparity in the U.S. is at a historic high.  The last time the concentration of wealth in the upper one percent of the country was as high as it is now was 1929.

- The number of people living below the poverty level is the highest it has been in 52 years. 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the last year alone.

- Median incomes fell last year to levels last seen in 1997, a span of 14 years.  The last time this happened in the …

[Note: The following column was published in the last Shift Age Newsletter.  If you would like a free subscription to the Newsletter, please click here and fill out the short subscription form]

Many of us attend conferences that are about certain topics, such as new technology, new behaviors or new forms of communicating. Speakers and panels get up on stage and spew new acronyms to show they are experts, or in the know, or specialists. Since we are not sure what they all mean, we think those who speak them must be smart. If we know what the jargon means, we feel in the know, and possibly, a sense of smugness creeps in.

When I speak about the future, people are sometimes surprised that I use simple language and stories to point out the trends and what the future might look like. Big concepts, macro trends and dynamic forces are simple, significant and profound, but speaking of them with lots of jargon is unnecessary and, in fact, false.

The short clip below is the ultimate statement ridiculing all those tragically hip, terminal insiders who think they can sound smart when reeling off jargon. Many of you have probably seen it, but watch it again in this context, and you might even laugh out loud at the jargon-speaking folks on stage at the next conference.

More seriously, as a speaker, I am always trying to get better at what I do. How can I impact the audience more directly? How can I be …

[Note:  This column was recently published in my Shift Age Newsletter. Please click here to sign up for a free subscription.]

In the past few months – and particularly the past few weeks – I’ve been asked everyday about what I think the near-term economic future will be. People even ask me about the stock market: Should they buy real estate? What do I think the price of gold might be? Because I’m a futurist who has been correct about some big things, they look to me for investment advice in these incredibly uncertain times.

I am not an investment advisor. I do not want the responsibility of guiding investors by answering their specific questions. That is not my expertise. My expertise is discerning long-term trends and developing long-term forecasts. Of course, these long-term trends could affect their specific investment. If questions are shaped in macro terms, I am happy to answer, as I feel some certainty and firmness of footing.

During the last few weeks of the debt debate debacle in Washington, I was asked every day what I thought might be the outcomes or consequences. In the week leading up to the August 2 deadline, I was in Australia and New Zealand, where it seemed everyone wanted my view. Other than the immediate statement that, as an American, I was totally embarrassed by the prioritization of party and special interests over the national interest, I did make some predictions

I said that if the debt reduction was not significant …