John Naisbitt the futurist held a discussion session at the AustCham Regional Conference. The gist of his talk:
– The Western representative democracy model is essentially “horizontal” with two parties slugging it out every few years
– This model has been rendered dysfunctional and inoperative by the information revolution
– An alternative “vertical” model is developing in Asia and China in which an interplay between top-down directions and bottom-up initiatives enables progress
– The “West” doesn’t understand that China and Asia will never accept the rules it imposes on them
– The success of the US lies partly in its ability to replenish the talent pool with immigrants
– Europe is on a path of mutually assured decline
– The “West” needs to seriously consider how to improve conditions in Africa – an impoverished Africa will not be good for the world
– China today is a country with no ideology, but it appreciates that it needs to change its educational system to engender more innovation
– The coming decade will be fantastic for Asia
– Based on the 10 to 1 ratio in direct foreign investment in China vs. India, China’s development will be a lot faster than India’s
– You don’t get results by solving problems, but by exploiting opportunities
– Australia needs to decide whether it is part of the “west” or Asia and act as a bridge between the two