U.S. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich calls himself a fantast , and never tires of prognosticating . Beloved of Future Shock generator Alvin Toffler , who mint the term “ futurist , ” Gingrich co - authored a “ conservative fantast ” book in 2006 called The Art of Transformation ( uncommitted in paperbackfor $ 70.00 on Amazon ) . He ’s also a rooter of alternating history , and has write a number of bestselling alt.history novels . ( We reviewed his novel 1945 here . )
Newt Gingrich Should Go Back To Writing Science Fiction !
Sean Mulligan of the American Humanist Association recentlyexplained why Gingrich ’s ideas cue him of the corporate - ladder world of Neuromancer :
When Newt say , as he did at the Conservative Political Action Conference last February outline his plan for a new environmental insurance , that he is a futurist , my spike perk up a bit . But Newt ’s futurism is . . . more like the “ high - tech , low life ” worldly concern that William Gibson imagined in his consummate novel Neuromancer . . . Gingrich announced his support for a Tenth Amendment Implementation Act , which would swan the rightfield of the states to do somewhat much whatever they wish loose of federal intervention . This is the variety of secessionist mindset that America last examine seriously in 1865 . . . Without Union treatment , schools would remain segregated ; indeed , the South would be an indigent area at the infantry of a prosperous industrial North . This is the future dream of by Dr. Gingrich and supporters of his school : one where a DoS would be at the mercifulness of bay window , one where a incapacitated people would have no real resort to collective vilification , a globe devoid of welfare , ecumenical health care , and Department of State - run education .
I think Mulligan ’s percentage point here , which he delivers in reasonably partizan term , is that Gingrich ’s insurance policy suggestions will lead to a world where absence of government programme could leave mass at the mercy of corporate power . Which , if you read Neuromancer , is a troubling idea — though not without its charms if you ’re a mercenary hacker who is strung out on drugs and hangs around with ghosts .
As for what Gingrich thinks , he ’s pretty unwaveringly in the “ utopian ” camp – though his political sympathies are definitely cyberpunk . He come across sounding like Ray Kurzweil in a recent audience with The Futurist .
Gingrichtells The Futurist :
In my book , apply the Art of Transformation , I provide a point of reference for considering what the decades forward may face like . There will be more growth in scientific knowledge in the next 25 years than take place during the past one hundred years . We are exceeding , by four to seven times , the pace of change of the past twenty - five years . This means that , by even the most materialistic estimate , in the next twenty - five years , we will have the plate of variety experienced between 1909 and 2009 .
He also say that one of the self-aggrandising issues of the future is “ cyber - security , ” adding :
As we go on to desegregate computers into every single panorama of our life , we are creating a substantial exposure to our very bread and butter . What we necessitate today is a cyber - think tank car staff by the generation today that lives and breathes in the electronic worldly concern . The institution would be set up much like the RAND Corporation was , with the exclusive purpose of ensuring the survivability of our networks and data point .
Make of that what you will .
effigy viaPlanet Damage .
FuturismNeuromancerPolitics
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