I learned that little tidbit by listening to Virginia Postrel talk about her book The Future and Its Enemies on C-Span Booknotes. The point of that little piece of info is that we can't really predict what the future will bring, Cambodians coming to America and then becoming makers of tasty donuts - who would have thought it? But more to the point - it's not worth trying to fight change - better to go with the flow or more precisely to use the flow to go where you want to go.
I can't get the picture of Bill Gates and President Hu from China hanging out a Bill's house down on Lake Washington. I can see them playing X-Box games, jumping off the dock, roasting weenies on a fire. Playing laser tag. Riding bikes off a cool jump. Getting on their jammies and watching videos, drinking cocoa and eating some Jiffy Pop.
I think the best way to do anything or maybe the only way to do anything that is worth doing is to FOCUS. You gotta have focus. Solitude helps me focus, but I can get really into something in a busy, distracting environment - it has to be the right thing though - something that is interesting/fascinating/challenging.
Have you ever heard people say, "it's all a game"? Lot's of things in society unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, are that way. The problem, as I see it, is that at some point in your life you will want to find meaning and if you can find it by "playing the game." well then more power to you. You might want to stop and think every so often - what does this really mean? Does what I'm doing have any positive impact on the "real" world? People? Other than the people playing the game? I'm afraid that on one's deathbed the idea that you played the game really great (which turned out to have no meaning for anyone other than other game-players) could be a bit of an existential shocker.
The Chinese are smart. President Hu isn't making a big deal about visiting with President Bush but rather the fact that he's having dinner with Bill Gates (a name any educated person in China is familiar with..and of course a symbol of capitalism's potential). He's also going to give a policy speech today. Where? Not at the Whitehouse but at a Boeing plant. Why? Because he knows where power lies. He understands politics better than a lot of Americans who still hold on to the quaint notion that power resides in our elected officials.
