How Technology Killed the Future

[Commentary] In our world of “present shock” everything is happening so fast that it may as well be simultaneous. One big now. The result for institutions -- especially political ones -- has been profound. This transformation has dramatically degraded the ability of political operatives to set long-term plans. Thrown off course, they’re now often left simply to react to the incoming barrage of events as they unfold. Gone, suddenly, is the quaint notion of “controlling the narrative” -- the flood of information is often far too unruly. There’s no time for context, only for crisis management.

[Douglas Rushkoff is a media theorist and author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now]