Sublime

the mental inertia that John Stuart Mill called the ‘deep slumber of a decided opinion’.

When the magnitude of coercive force is more important than the efficient deployment of resources, as was the case prior to 1989, it is all but impossible for most governments to be controlled by their customers.

Money is a force that dictates the flow of people, goods and ideas around the globe. Our efforts and talents are assessed by it; so too is the future.

whether these developments can or should proceed in the face of opposition from legions of losers will be among the more important controversies of the Information Age.

the curse of corporate life in Britain was the distinction between “gentlemen” and “players.” Far too many talentless amateurs rose to high positions, and far too many talented professionals were kept in the ranks.

The result of all these trends is an odd distortion in our perception of what governments can and should do, and a stunted imagination in relation to what it could be.

The result of all these trends is an odd distortion in our perception of what governments can and should do, and a stunted imagination in relation to what it could be.

This nostalgia for the past will be fed by resentments inflamed by the inevitable transition crisis. The greatest resentment is likely to be centered among those of middle talent in currently rich countries. They particularly may come to feel that information technology poses a threat to their way of life.

During the first half of the next century there will be a massive transfer of wealth from the Old West to the New East. Political failures—and China is still a politically backward country—may delay this transfer of wealth and strategic power, but are most unlikely to prevent it. They cannot reverse it. This process of the shift in wealth would in