Why We Must Stay Optimistic During Setbacks

As Gerd often says that we keep asking the wrong question i.e. ‘what will 2022 bring?’ Instead, we should ask ‘what kind of future do we want?‘ This is a key point Gerd also reiterates in his year-end interviews; below.

The Hong Kong Economic Journal, asked Gerd to talk about the future and what’s happening in a time that’s being called ‘the great resignation’.

“Labor is endless! As the gap between the rich and the poor widens, many people are beginning to see that the existing work pattern is in fact a different kind of institutional exploitation. Antiwork groups emerged first in the United States, followed by a wave of resignations in Europe and the United States. Tens of millions of salaried workers are leaving the workplace, which will have a far-reaching impact on the global economy.

Written by: Zheng Yunfeng, our reporter
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“If we want to understand the future, we need to look at the world as it is without preconceptions. In the eyes of futurist Gerd Leonhard, this wave of resignations is akin to another Renaissance: “The epidemic has caused people to reflect and seek a more meaningful life.

In an interview with the magazine, Leonhard said that after working at home for a long time, employees are becoming more independent and are no longer willing to be the small screws of big machines, while learning to make good use of new technologies to further their studies. “More and more new generations are quitting because they can’t stand the old management culture.

At the same time, the epidemic accelerated the Internet for all, he estimated that half of the work will move to the virtual world, mixed work system becomes more popular. In recent years, Google, Amazon and other science companies have been the first to try it out.

He stressed again and again that he does not think the labor market can return to the pre-epidemic days, and that the workplace culture will change completely. He feels that the change should be viewed positively – from the perspective of employees, who are brave enough to unleash their potential, no longer feel enslaved, and develop an entrepreneurial spirit; and from the perspective of companies, who can make use of virtual networks to flexibly recruit talent from around the world.

“We’ve seen similar reset opportunities in history, but the question is how we choose to do it. Leonhard believes that the current economic model is unsustainable and will force those with vested interests to change, otherwise they will just “chase”. “We have to break the old rules and move towards sustainable capitalism, not just profit.”

-Translated excerpts from the January issue of Hong Kong Economic Journal

“Antiwork’s anti-exploitation resignation sweeps the world” Read more (in Chinese)

What will 2022 bring? Futurist Gerd Leonhard

In Brazil, Gerd is being interviewed by Paulo Favero from “Estadão” regarding his upcoming engagement in Salvador in March 2022, talking about how Covid is a test-run for climate change…

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Paulo Favero: “Were there any lessons learned?“

Gerd: “Covid-19 is a test-run for climate change. Everything we are doing to deal with covid-19, like extra money, more efforts, beyond governments, we are learning that we need to do that also to deal with climate change. We have different legislation, we need to cooperate, it’s a painful lesson we’ve had. I think in many ways covid-19 for young people is like World War II for my parents. It’s like a halt, the beginning of a great period of change. So I say that the next ten years will bring more change than the previous 100 years.”

Paulo Favero: “The pandemic has also strengthened the dispute between fake news and reliable information. Do you think this conflict will last for a long time?“

Gerd: “I think this is another good thing that came out of the covid-19 pandemic. We realized that we really need to have good media to inform people. It can’t just be a machine like Facebook and its algorithms.”

Paulo Favero: “What will the world be like in 2050?“
“We will certainly have solved most of the pressing problems, such as cancer-like diseases, water and energy problems. We will have unlimited free energy and an abundance of food. I hope that in this period we will have some kind of global government that will deal with the world’s problems, a council of wise men.”

-Translated excerpts from the Estadao Journal

“Covid is a test-run for climate change” Read more (in Brazilian)

Times Now India interviews Gerd in this rapid-fire style interview for their segment of “The World Tomorrow” and you can watch the full video on YouTube (if available in your country), or watch the segments in the tweets below.

“In this episode of The World Tomorrow with Siddhartha Talya, we interview Gerd Leonhard, a futurist, humanist, and author. The year is just about to end, and with the omicron scare, the world could go back to where it was a year ago. How does the future look for us? What does the future hold for us?

These are the broad questions we tried to get answers to from Gerd. Gerd talks about the aftermaths of COVID and says, “we cannot go back to the world of 2018 or 2019. We will recover, but we will adopt a different lifestyle where the mask is an essential thing to put on. He goes on to answer many such questions. – Can We Go Back To Pre-Covid Era? | Exclusive Interview With Gerd Leonhard | The World Tomorrow“

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