Is that the end of capitalism or are you just happy to see me?

Personal Updates:

Lots lots lots for me on professional front. We totally relaunched and redesigned 99U.com. You can read the short version here. Editorial nerds can peep the 6-month long process from conception to redesign via my post at Medium. In short, we're focusing 99U further on the creative community, a choice that has manifested itself in a revamped magazine (above) a new website and a few more projects. Strategically we're making use of 99U's deep evergreen service article archives and driving email conversions. 

We also celebrated the eighth 99U Conference at Lincoln Center here in NYC. Speakers included Project Greenlight's Effie Brown, Bevel's Tristan Walker, Treehouse's Ryan Carson and many more. Read our recap here. Videos to come!

And my latest on 99U, published today: The Creative World's Bullshit Industrial Complex. It's about how I've noticed a rising class of people that aspire to be experts before they are ready. 

The links:

One of the most fascinating questions of our lifetimes is: what happens when robots take our jobs? Or, if you're dramatic: Is capitalism broken? Two schools of thought:

1 - We're all good. What are the odds that we happen to be living through the end of our particular economic system? It's arrogance to assume now is more important than... any time since the beginning of capitalism. Also, jobs have been automated before, income has been unequal before. The system survives and thrives.  

2 - This time it's different and it would be irresponsible not to prepare. We are creating lots of value in the information/network economies and not being rewarded for it. Maybe we need a Universal Income? Or not. I've seen calls to nationalize monopolistic data sets like the ones held by Apple and Google for the public good. After all, thats where a lot of the value we're creating is being stored. Shouldn't we all benefit? I've also seen calls to raise minimum wage to automate "bullshit jobs" and force companies to innovate to make up the difference in revenue. Basically, the only reasons humans still do some jobs is because they are cheaper than robots.

(If you're obsessed with this as much as me, I highly suggest reading Postcapitalism by Paul Mason. And this essay by Matt Bruenig (RIP). Currently reading World After Capital, available for free here.)

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One thing I almost never see: A discussion of what an individual navigating the working world can do to prepare themselves for this possibility. We have 1000 career books and career coaches and no one is discussing the elephant in the room. Does this interest the hell out of you, too? Reply to this email and let's talk!

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There is a difference between being affluent, rich, and super rich. The real benefits of wealth is not material (per se) it's having access. This, to me, is the real benefit of growing blessed with some degree of wealth. You know what success looks like and have a clear idea on what it takes to get there.

When publications derisively write about young people, they often focus on a tiny group of coastal (often Ivy-educated) college grads. So, let's stop writing about Harvard and recognize that the average 29 year old didn't graduate from college and doesn't live in a coastal city. Why the untrue media perception of the coddled millennial? Shocker: It's because reporters are blind to how insular their world is. The Atlantic's Derek Thompson sums up the problem thusly: "Well-educated journalists in these dense cities [like NYC and SF] wind up with a skewed impression of the world, a 'majority illusion' based on the extremely unrepresentative cross-section of the country that’s immediately around them."

If you ever find yourself trashing "liberals" or "conservatives" you (yes you) are part of the problem. Consider that you may not have all of the information. That the other side is not dumb. That you may have set up your life in a filter bubble. Or you have a "righteous mind." 

- Also, beware of false narratives this election cycle. There's evidence to suggest that Americans aren't actually all that angry. And Trump voters aren't a bunch of poor white people. They actually are more wealthy (median household income: $72,000) than Clinton and Sanders voters ("around $61,000 for both").

- Also, also: if you read and write things on the internet you are probably smug and obsessed with yourself. Stop doing that. Hold on while I admire this mirror.

The reasons for the wage gap between men and women are messy and complicated. One reason, men value money much more than women, and work more hours. "The cultural expectation that men be the top providers proves to be an insurmountable force, even (or especially) among the best educated households" 

At the risk of jinxing ourselves, I ask: is media a solved problem? (Hold on while I knock on every piece of wood in this room). Here's what works: don't focus on scale. Service a very specific niche. Gather email addresses. Add value to their lives and become indispensable. Your media business will not be saved. In fact, there's never been a better time to start a publication. Even Poynter gets it!

A shoutout to some of my favorite Twitter accounts lately that make me think: Robert P. George, Princeton Prof; Freddie deBoer, writer; The Discourse Lover; Christina H. Sommers, American Enterprise Institute; and The Financial Diet because, duh.

Official Newsletter Flag (for now)

The flag of Vieques, Puerto Rico. I had the pleasure of spending last week there. The island was a US Navy bombing site until 2003 when protestors were able to finally stop the practice (as with most things in the world, The West Wing can explain.) The island features miles of largely untouched beaches + nature reserves and a jaw-dropping Bioluminescent Bay. The Vieques flag features a simplified coat of arms of the island and is one of the few flags I've seen that features red on green on blue.

You never make me blue, dear reader,
— Sean