Looking Forward - Pete's Newsletter - Issue #21
Photos of the Week
Podcast of the Week
The hilarious and desperate world of drop-shipping, Shopify and Instagram Ads come to the light in this podcast. I can't decide if I should be long or short Shopify..
Tech Article of the Week
In this interview, Macron (president of France) appears at ease in his role as a Global leader and speaks quite intelligently about the impact of Artificial Intelligence and how it can enhance vs. harm society.
He also puts forward his country's perspective on the importance of maintaining its values and not trusting decisions that impact those values in the swift hands of private companies and Capitalism.
(AI) could totally dismantle our national cohesion and the way we live together. This leads me to the conclusion that this huge technological revolution is in fact a political revolution.
When you look at artificial intelligence today, the two leaders are the US and China. In the US, it is entirely driven by the private sector, large corporations, and some startups dealing with them. All the choices they will make are private choices that deal with collective values. That’s exactly the problem you have with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica or autonomous driving. On the other side, Chinese players collect a lot of data driven by a government whose principles and values are not ours. And Europe has not exactly the same collective preferences as US or China. If we want to defend our way to deal with privacy, our collective preference for individual freedom versus technological progress, integrity of human beings and human DNA, if you want to manage your own choice of society, your choice of civilization, you have to be able to be an acting part of this AI revolution.
In this interview and others, Macron speaks of deregulation as a way to accelerate business and economic growth. Interestingly, his principles around deregulation are similar to Margrethe Vestager’s principles around regulation. Her job is to ensure competition and a fair market exist so that economic growth is not stifled by large corporations.
Meanwhile, in the US, most decisions around when to eliminate existing regulations and when to create new regulations are driven by Corporate interests.
This podcast digs into that conundrum.
Music Article of the Week
I love this interview format. Who knew Britt wrote the songs for Girls Can Tell while working a corporate job in Brooklyn after Spoon's first two records flopped?
Political Article of the Week
Setting aside the divisive headline, this is a balanced look at the very real rise of authoritarian leaders in the world, this administration's weak approach, and what to do from here. From the former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
If one were to draft a script chronicling fascism’s resurrection, the abdication of America’s moral leadership would make a credible first scene.
Fascism poses a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II.
Song of the Week
Dr. Dog is a perennial favorite. In this track, vocalist/guitarist Scott McMicken imparts a tale of love lost.
When the world turns and we lose someone, the pain of missing them is strong, but even stronger is the pain of knowing we have lost a part of ourselves. Importantly, the opposite is also true, as we experience new things and meet new people, we can uncover new layers of meaning in our lives. If we keep our eyes open, inspiration is all around us.