# Is that the end of capitalism or are you just happy to see me-

![The new 99U Magazine](../images/208f4b313602.jpg)\
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***Personal Updates:***\
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**Lots lots lots for me on professional front**. We totally relaunched
and redesigned 99U.com. [You can read the short version
here](http://99u.com/articles/53381/welcome-to-the-new-99u?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
Editorial nerds can peep the 6-month long process from conception to
redesign [via my post at
Medium](https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-99u-refresh-ec5f45bdbe0b?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just#.rrecx9x9g).
In short, we're focusing 99U further on the creative community, a choice
that has manifested itself in a revamped magazine (above) a new website
and a few more projects. Strategically we're making use of 99U's deep
evergreen service article archives and driving email conversions. \
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**We also celebrated the eighth 99U Conference at Lincoln Center here in
NYC**. Speakers included Project Greenlight's Effie Brown, *Bevel*'s
Tristan Walker, Treehouse's Ryan Carson and many more. Read our recap
[here](http://99u.com/articles/53766/the-30-things-we-learned-at-the-2016-99u-conference?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
Videos to come!\
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**And my latest on 99U, published today: The Creative World's Bullshit
Industrial Complex.** It's about how I've noticed a [rising class of
people that aspire to be experts before they are
ready](http://99u.com/articles/53863/the-creative-worlds-bullshit-industrial-complex?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just). \
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***The links:***\
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**One of the most fascinating questions of our lifetimes is**: **what
happens when robots take our jobs?** Or, if you're dramatic: Is
capitalism broken? Two schools of thought:\
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***1 - We're all good.*** What are the odds that we happen to be living
through the end of our particular economic system? It's arrogance to
assume now is more important than... any time since the beginning of
capitalism. Also, jobs have been automated before, income has been
unequal before. The system survives and thrives.  \
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***2 - This time it's different and it would be irresponsible not to
prepare.*** We are creating lots of value in the information/network
economies and not being rewarded for it. [Maybe we need a Universal
Income](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/03/technology/plan-to-fight-robot-invasion-at-work-give-everyone-a-paycheck.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)?
[Or
not](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/business/economy/universal-basic-income-poverty.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
I've seen calls to nationalize monopolistic data sets like the ones held
by Apple and Google for the public good. After all, thats where a lot of
the value we're creating is being stored. Shouldn't we all benefit? I've
also seen calls to raise minimum wage to automate "[bullshit
jobs](http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)"
and force companies to innovate to make up the difference in revenue.
Basically, the only reasons humans still do some jobs is because they
are cheaper than robots.\
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(If you're obsessed with this as much as me, I highly suggest reading
*[Postcapitalism](https://www.amazon.com/Postcapitalism-Guide-Future-Paul-Mason/dp/0374235546/184-6945204-6122150?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)*
by Paul Mason. And [this essay by Matt
Bruenig](http://www.demos.org/blog/5/9/16/robotization-and-ideology?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just) ([RIP](http://www.vox.com/2016/5/21/11724298/bruenighazi-matt-bruenig-neera-tanden-demos?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)).
Currently reading *World After Capital*, available for free
[here](https://worldaftercapital.gitbooks.io/worldaftercapital/content/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).)\
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—\
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**One thing I almost never see: A discussion of what an individual
navigating the working world can do to prepare themselves for this
possibility.** We have 1000 career books and career coaches and no one
is discussing the elephant in the room. Does this interest the hell out
of you, too? Reply to this email and let's talk!\
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–\
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**There is a difference between being affluent, rich, and super rich**.
The real benefits of wealth is not material (per se) [it's having
*access*](http://casnocha.com/pros-and-cons-of-wealth-the-goldilocks-theory?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
This, to me, is the real benefit of growing blessed with some degree of
wealth. You know what success looks like and have a clear idea on what
it takes to get there.\
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**When publications derisively write about young people, they often
focus on a tiny group of coastal (often Ivy-educated) college grads**.
So, [let's stop writing about
Harvard](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/shut-up-about-harvard/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)
and recognize that the average 29 year old didn't graduate from college
and doesn't live in a coastal city. Why the untrue media perception of
the coddled millennial? Shocker: It's because reporters are blind to how
insular their world is. *The Atlantic*'s Derek Thompson [sums up the
problem
thusly](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/the-average-29-year-old/479139/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just):
"Well-educated journalists in these dense cities \[like NYC and SF\]
wind up with a skewed impression of the world, a 'majority
illusion' based on the extremely unrepresentative cross-section of the
country that’s immediately around them."\
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**If you ever find yourself trashing "liberals" or "conservatives" you
(yes you) are part of the problem.** Consider that you may not have all
of the information. [That the other side is not
dumb](https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just#.y2ru4o23m).
That you may have [set up your life in a filter
bubble](http://graphics.wsj.com/blue-feed-red-feed/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
Or [you have a "righteous
mind."](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/the-righteous-mind-by-jonathan-haidt.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0&referer=https://t.co/qT4F0oeure&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just) \
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- Also, beware of false narratives this election cycle. There's evidence
to suggest that Americans [aren't actually all that
angry](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/05/31/bad-narratives/?module=meter-Links&version=meter+at+0&contentCollection=meter-links-click&action=click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&priority=true&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
And Trump voters [aren't a bunch of poor white
people](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-mythology-of-trumps-working-class-support/?ex_cid=story-twitter&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
They actually are more wealthy (median household income: \$72,000) than
Clinton and Sanders voters ("around \$61,000 for both").\
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- Also, also: if you read and write things on the internet [you are
probably
smug](http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just) and
[obsessed with
yourself](http://thewalrus.ca/i-dont-care-about-your-life/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
Stop doing that. Hold on while I admire this mirror.\
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**The reasons for the wage gap between men and women are messy and
complicated.** One reason, [men value money much more than
women](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/too-many-elite-american-men-are-obsessed-with-work/479940/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just),
and work more hours. "The cultural expectation that men be the top
providers proves to be an insurmountable force, even (or especially)
among the best educated households" \
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**At the risk of jinxing ourselves, I ask: is media a solved
problem?** (Hold on while I knock on every piece of wood in this room).
Here's what works: [don't focus on
scale](http://rafat.org/post/142855993216/the-end-of-scale?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
Service a very specific niche. Gather email addresses. Add value to
their lives and become indispensable. [Your media business will not be
saved](https://medium.com/@joshuatopolsky/your-media-business-will-not-be-saved-1b0716b5010c?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just#.j64i16tog).
In fact, [there's never been a better time to start a
publication](http://rafat.org/post/143635954006/mediaoperator?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).
[Even Poynter gets
it](http://www.poynter.org/2016/is-going-solo-a-good-idea-these-journalists-are-giving-it-a-try/405405/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just)!\
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**A shoutout to some of my favorite Twitter accounts lately that make me
think**: [Robert P. George, Princeton
Prof](https://twitter.com/McCormickProf?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just);
[Freddie deBoer,
writer](https://twitter.com/freddiedeboer?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just); [The
Discourse
Lover](https://twitter.com/Trillburne?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just); [Christina
H. Sommers, American Enterprise
Institute](https://twitter.com/CHSommers?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just);
and The Financial Diet because,
[duh](https://twitter.com/SeanBlanda/status/737991275404759040?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).\
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***Official Newsletter Flag (for now)***\
![Vieques flag](../images/0545ba731508.png)\
The flag of Vieques, Puerto Rico. I had the pleasure of spending last
week there. The island was a US Navy bombing site until 2003 when
[protestors were able to finally stop the
practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieques,_Puerto_Rico?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just#Protests_and_departure_of_the_United_States_Navy)
(as with most things in the world, [The West Wing can
explain](http://westwing.wikia.com/wiki/The_Two_Bartlets?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=is-that-the-end-of-capitalism-or-are-you-just).)
The island features miles of largely untouched beaches + nature reserves
and a jaw-dropping Bioluminescent Bay. The Vieques flag features a
simplified coat of arms of the island and is one of the few flags I've
seen that features red on green on blue.\
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You never make me blue, dear reader,\
— Sean\