Media To Consider - 10/11/18

Books and Articles worth a Review…

The Coders of Kentucky – The New York Times recently posted an important article that all of us need to read in this time of revolution.  First, a brief history lesson.  The First Industrial Revolution lasted about 120 years.  It tore apart professions that had been passed down from generation to generation.  In fact, my great-grandfather was a victim in the line of progress.  He was a tanner in Bavaria who lost his job to the looms.  Like many of that generation experienced, there was disruption.  The options were few and far between in Germany at the time plus Otto Von Bismarck was engaging in lots of little wars with his neighbors throughout Europe.  My great-grandfather thought better of fighting wars as an unemployed tanner so he picked up his family and moved to America to become a farmer in Western Nebraska as a homesteader.  There were further revolutions along the way and now we are facing the digital revolution.  The difference is that instead of 120 years it will likely only take 20 years and the disruption will be far more significant.  It will affect not just coal miners and linemen in car factories.  It will also “affect doctors, lawyers and such.”  But, rather than hide or blame immigrants (like my great-grandfather) or engage in other disruptions – we need to learn from the past.  Education is the key.  It is disingenuous to tell coal miners that they will all get their jobs back!  Rather, the US should do what the Times article points out – which is to retrain people with new skills, added knowledge and capabilities for meeting new challenges.  From the hills and hollers of Eastern Kentucky, a new breeding ground of cybercoders has been created that will no doubt change the landscape.  The same type of thinking needs to go into retraining and educating workers so they can hold jobs in new areas.  Just as farming, tanning, car manufacturing and a host of other well-paying professions have radically changed – so it will be as the continuous cycle of change moves society forward.  Continuous education and re-education are the keys to success.  I see it with doctors, lawyers and such – because they’re next…