Almost everything around the globe is currently recalibrating, and us impatient, obsessed-by-instant-gratification humans need to recalibrate our expectations on the speed these things take. BIG changes and re-balancing take time. We have been spoiled recently by sharp declines followed by speedy V-shaped recoveries. Often fueled by artificial stimulants. A trip to Starbucks is not the best cure for being sleep deprived. The media monitors every single daily touch-point and broadcasts this to us 365/24/7. And now maybe we all need to take a deep breath and adjust our expectations on the subject of speed....
Think about all the things happening globally as we adjust and re-balance:
1. Overheated home price escalations that we all knew were unrealistic in areas, fueled by super-cheap money, pent up demand, societal shifts, irrational assumptions, massive stimulus that started with tax cuts in 2018, under-building, over-concentration on more expensive homes, etc.
2. Our reliance on fossil fuels is now shifting towards electricity while our current electric supply can barely keep up with demand.
3. Political shifts fueled by extreme division, shifting voters to opposite ends of the political spectrum.
4. A global realization that when your energy supply is reliant on corrupt nations you will have a problem sooner or later.
5. The long, slow evolution into a post Covid world that is not over yet.
6. Massive shifts in how and where we work and live.
7. Massive recalibration of our infrastructure to adapt to a new changing world with more extreme weather events, water shortages, growing population, new accelerated growth in unprepared areas, etc.
8. Growing and manufacturing locally to not only be less reliant on foreign, less reliable entities, but also to cut back on delivery distances and timing. And adjusting to the reality that locally produced costs much more.
9. An aging population accelerating wealth transfer and retirement.
10. Growing wealth disparity, crime, homelessness, poor health, etc.
I am scratching the surface. The enormous shifts we are seeing right now have accelerated, our awareness of them is growing and we need to exercise some patience in how we adjust to new normals while we solve these big challenges. And yes, we will resolve them. With time, hard work, innovation, collaboration ....and a lot of patience.
The only thing that can prevent us from emerging from this moment - and it is just a moment when viewed in the context of decades and centuries, not months - is increased division. United we will reap the rewards, divided we will pay the price.
