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America 2.0
I feel a certain kinship with Mark Cuban, the owner of Dallas Mavericks and an investor in many companies. Except for owning the NBA team part. Or being a billionaire. Or being white. Still, I like that he is hopeful and almost relentlessly optimistic about human capabilities.
My often visible skepticism about a lot of things aside, I am a believer in possibilities. I mean, otherwise, what’s the point? I also like that Cuban, who can afford to do so, gives the middle finger to authority. As you probably know, I am not getting invited to Zuck’s BBQ anytime soon. Anyway Cuban sent this tweet earlier this week:
I hope he is right. After all this is over, I hope we emerge from this with a more realistic perspective regarding our shortcomings as a nation and more appreciation for the work we need to do to retain our place as a leader on this planet — not in terms of bombs and bullets, but more in our ability to create, innovate, and be resilient. I sincerely hope that we can find leaders and legislators who understand that science and technology can help create new opportunities — not necessarily for us, but for your kids and for my goddaughters, nephew, and nieces. America 2.0 is not about us. It is about them.
Science and technology are what made America 1.0 what it was, a powerful nation that was the envy of the world. In order to move forward, we have to get back to being believers in these tools and their potential.
Like Cuban, I am hopeful. On the other hand, we have some people using the pandemic and lockdown in New York City to create viral videos1 that are nothing but damn cheap tricks — a demonstration of the destructive obsession with self that got us into this situation in the first place.
April 3, 2020, San Francisco.
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash