Do We Have What It Takes to Get From Here to There? Part 1: Japan
Charles Hugh Smith-Do We Have What It Takes to Get From Here to There? Part 1: Japan
The Japanese model of incrementally perfecting consumer technologies may well have have reached marginal returns.
Do we have what it takes to get from here to there?
This apparently simple question offers profound insights into the dynamics of individuals, households, enterprises and nation-states. If we answer this question honestly, it establishes a “road map” of what must be in place before a progression from here to a more sustainable future (“there”) can take place.
Individuals, households, enterprises and nations can have goals—where they want to be in the future—but to get there, they need to construct the necessary foundation of values, processes, skillsets, networks, practical experience and capital.
Since my partner and I built about 100 houses back in the mid-1980s, I see building a house as a useful analogy for getting from here to there: each step requires different tools, skills, experience and sufficient capital invested to get to the next phase. If you don’t have all of these in hand for each step, the goal of completing the house will remain a fantasy.