Terrorism Returns. Keep Moving Forward.

By John Robb

With explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, terrorism returned to America today.

The situation is still unfolding, just a few miles away, as I write this, but I have a few thoughts I'd like to share.

Change

This attack is a reminder that the problems of the last decade aren't behind us. They can return with an unexpected suddenness.

Things are changing throughout the world, at a very deep level, and that change is going to be very disruptive for a long time.

Unfortunately, this change means that terrorism will continue to be a threat, for, as Boston demonstrated today, technology will continue to improve the ability of small groups to do grave harm.

This change will also gravely disrupt some of the systems and institutions we've relied upon in the past. Governments will face bouts of insolvency and increasing levels of soul-numbing corruption.  

We're already seeing this throughout the developed world as governments become hamstrung by soaring debt and special interest politics. In the case of global financial markets, we'll see stagnation punctuated by inevitable, but irregularly timed, panics.

In the environment, we're going to see an endless parade of extreme weather events -- from droughts to tornadoes to hurricanes to heat waves.

What to do

When faced with a situation like this, there's only one thing to do.

Keep moving forward.

Moving forward doesn't mean doubling down on the way we used to do things.

That won't work.  Doing more of the same will only put us in the path of future disruptions.

Instead, the solution is to move towards resilience.  At home and in our community.

We do that by....

• Producing more of what we use locally, better -- this allows us to negotiate a connection to the world on favorable terms. On our terms.
• Directly connecting with people around world to sell our goods and services -- without being employed by executives, financed by bankers, or authorized by bureaucrats.
• Finding the best sources of insight and knowledge available online -- to learn how to do and build amazing things.

This is just the start.

The best part is that we're already finding that re-localization is not only increasing our resilience to disruption, it's providing us a better way of life and a new prosperity.

Yours,

JOHN ROBB