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  1. The AtlanticDerek Thompson8/6/2011 min
    20 reads4 comments
    8.7
    The Atlantic
    20 reads
    8.7
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    • sjwoo3 years ago

      I don't know much, but this I do know from years of living: predictions of fast/big changes rarely come true. I think it'll be the same here. Excepting for one huge caveat -- if COVID-20 or COVID-21 happens, all bets are off.

    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      3 years ago

      This is a refreshing thing to read in an era where it seems like lots of journalistic writing is trying hard to be "winning" or even "right" (emphasis mine):

      What follows are three second-order predictions—for our economy, our workforce, and our politics. Because predicting the future is, like dart throwing, easily done and often misdirected, each prediction ends with the best argument I can think of for why it won’t actually come true.

      My own situation directly relates to the third prediction, although I take some silly pride in the fact that I fled the city several years ago. Still though, I just registered to vote in rural New Mexico (where I now live) and it feels way more meaningful than voting in NY or SF as I did in my 20s. I'm not a Democrat, but I I am young(ish?) and progressive/radical, and I work in tech. People like me are usually in cities, but now we'll be voting "out in the country" this time around.

    • Florian3 years ago

      Very well thought through and I like how it closes:

      The plague is not an inventor. It is a time machine, pulling us forward into a future that was, perhaps, already on its way.

    • normanbae3 years ago

      Another take on how remote work is changing things.

      Re the political effects, I've been saying this since I've seen my co-workers and friends move out of NYC. The poor COVID19 response by the Republican administration may actually strengthen the Democratic party for years to come. With COVID19 continuing to rage on in the US, remote work continues to be the norm for white collar work. This means people on the blue-leaning coasts can relocate away from the coasts into the red-leaning middle of the US, reshaping the demographics of such cities.