I don’t know to whom I can attribute the saying “..in there are only two things in life you can count on - Death and Taxes”, but I would add one other certainty and that is Change. To look around Ireland today there is a significant amount of change that is for sure, and I wonder are we really entering a new era. Most groups are playing hardball trying to retain their influence over their destiny and maintain their way of life. And yet I have to wonder - Has the west’s geopolitical influence reached the apex? If I were a betting man I would have to say yes. As global markets lower the barriers between the western working person and those working in areas of the globe that have a much lower cost base, it becomes clearer and clearer that way of life of the average person in the west, which has really only come into being in the last 30 – 40 years, is now under threat. As the power bases shift to the emerging world, the influence that countries like Ireland and Australia hold will continue to become more and more marginalized, and as a consequence they will become more of like satellite states, accepting the choices provided by those few larger governing groups. Some see this coming, and take a global perspective – they stand the best chance of remaining relevant. Rate of change and the consequences of the increased speed of change will be our challenge.
Monday 5 October 2009
Death and Taxes
I don’t know to whom I can attribute the saying “..in there are only two things in life you can count on - Death and Taxes”, but I would add one other certainty and that is Change. To look around Ireland today there is a significant amount of change that is for sure, and I wonder are we really entering a new era. Most groups are playing hardball trying to retain their influence over their destiny and maintain their way of life. And yet I have to wonder - Has the west’s geopolitical influence reached the apex? If I were a betting man I would have to say yes. As global markets lower the barriers between the western working person and those working in areas of the globe that have a much lower cost base, it becomes clearer and clearer that way of life of the average person in the west, which has really only come into being in the last 30 – 40 years, is now under threat. As the power bases shift to the emerging world, the influence that countries like Ireland and Australia hold will continue to become more and more marginalized, and as a consequence they will become more of like satellite states, accepting the choices provided by those few larger governing groups. Some see this coming, and take a global perspective – they stand the best chance of remaining relevant. Rate of change and the consequences of the increased speed of change will be our challenge.
