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