The world is changing in multiple ways. One interesting way is the extent of power that powerful people have and rapidly, especially in the last 30 years.

He defines power as the ability to cause people to do something they would not normally do.

Ways of exercising power include muscle (force), pitch (convincing), code (tradition), and reward.

Power is exercised in all facets of life from home to work to family.

With the definition of power out of the way and how it works he launches into a myriad of examples of how the old power structures are now weaker and more constrained then they were in the past. Politics, religion, businesses are all effected by this.

For the past 20 years America has been the most powerful nation in the planet and has acted as a Hegemony. This has created some amount of peace and stability but won’t last due to several factors. The rise of the BRICS, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.

The effectiveness of cheaper military efforts. For example the 9-11 attacks probably cost around 500k, America has spent almost 3 trillion dollar in retaliation in the wars in Afghanastan and Iraq.

A 200 million dollar Israeli boat was almost sunk by a $60,000 cruise missile and of course the cheapness of IEDs, drones and the list goes on. Technology has made things cheaper and more accessible for all types of people.

The power of the Catholic church is significantly waning in Latin America, many people are joining evangelical churches that server their need better.

Corporate giants are being outplayed and out smarted by new and nimble startups. There has been a huge increase in the number of smaller charitable foundations allowing more control of where the money goes.

I liked being reminded that the world is changing and will continue to do so. His question is what will it mean for security, for the future of our planet. It seems to be harder for Countries to agree to take action on big questions like climate change, north Korea, Iran, pollution controls. Will humans be better off with the powerful having less power? He seems to think not and recommends we have more trust in our leaders and give them more power.

I reject that idea because we can’t trust our leaders, see NSA, legalized torture, CIA and the list goes on.

I am impressed with what groups of like minded citizens and people have accomplished in the past. From saving and creating national parks, the environmental movement, the civil rights movement. These weren’t accomplished by established political leaders but by the people. Yes there is danger in radicals and violent criminals but we shouldn’t surrender more rights just to feel safer. The future is definitely going to be interesting and will be shaped by the ideas of more people then ever before.