Mark Zuckerberg
The Zuckerberg Vision For A Grand Future
By James Donahue
Mark Zuckerberg, the boy genius who dropped out of Harvard 12 years ago to invent Facebook, outlined an imaginary futuristic world hinging on a Democratic-Socialistic theme during a Harvard Commencement address last month.
In his 30-minute speech, the 33-year-old Zuckerberg called for a “modern democracy” offering universal basic income, better health care, criminal-justice reform, educational opportunities for all, dealing with climate change and several other politically charged topics designed to build a dynamic new world.
He also received an honorary doctorate as part of the ceremony.
In his address Zuckerberg said: “I want to talk about three ways to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose: by taking on big meaningful projects together, by redefining equality so everyone has the freedom to pursue purpose, and by building community across the world.”
He noted that this new generation he envisions must first deal with “tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks,” and assembly-line robots that eliminate most positions now held by modern laborers. He said that if we can collectively prepare for these dynamic changes, he believes there will be amazing opportunities to accomplish greatness. But everyone has to pull together.
“It’s time for our generation-defining public works,” Zuckerberg said. “How about stopping climate change before we destroy the planet and getting millions of people involved manufacturing and installing solar panels? How about curing all diseases and asking volunteers to track their health data and share their genomes? Today we spend 50 times more treating people who are sick than we spend finding cures so people don’t get sick in the first place. That makes no sense. We can fix this.
“How about modernizing democracy so everyone can vote on line, and personalizing education so everyone can learn?”
“These achievements are within our reach. Let’s do them all in a way that gives everyone in our society a role. Let’s do big things, not only to create progress but to create purpose,” he said.
Zuckerberg spoke directly about the problem of “wealth inequality” in the nation that he said “hurts everyone. When you don’t have the freedom to take your idea and turn it into a historic enterprise, we all lose. Right now our society is way over-indexed on rewarding success, and we don’t do nearly enough to make it easy for everyone to take lots of shots.
“Let’s face it: There is something wrong with our system when I can leave here and make billions of dollars in 10 years while millions of students can’t afford to pay off their loans, let alone start a business.”
He said he realized that in the present business environment, would-be entrepreneurs with great ideas are afraid to take chances because they lack a cushion to fall back on if the idea fails. And good ideas are usually the result of many trials and errors before there is success.
The answer to this and other social problems would be universal basic income, Zuckerberg said. He said a program like that would “give everyone a cushion to try new things. We are going to change jobs many times, so we need affordable childcare to get to work and healthcare that (isn’t) tied to one company. We’re all going to make mistakes, so we need a society that focuses less on locking us up or stigmatizing us. And as technology keeps changing, we need to focus more on continuous education throughout our lives.”
Zuckerberg said he knew that the freedom for everyone to pursue purpose will not be free. Consequently “people like me should pay for it. Many of you will do well, and you should too,” he told the Harvard graduates.
Because he believes this, Zuckerberg said he and his wife, Pricilla have started the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative through which they have “committed our wealth to promoting equal opportunity. These are the values of our generation. It was never a question of if we were going to do this. The only question was when.”
He said it will be important that the new generation works to create a sense of purpose for everyone “by building community. And when our generation says everyone, we mean everyone in the world . . . In a survey asking millennials around the world what defines our identity, the most popular answer wasn’t nationality, religion or ethnicity; it was ‘citizen of the world.’ That’s a big deal.
“Every generation expands the circle of people we consider ‘one of us.’ For us, it now encompasses the entire world,” he said.
By James Donahue
Mark Zuckerberg, the boy genius who dropped out of Harvard 12 years ago to invent Facebook, outlined an imaginary futuristic world hinging on a Democratic-Socialistic theme during a Harvard Commencement address last month.
In his 30-minute speech, the 33-year-old Zuckerberg called for a “modern democracy” offering universal basic income, better health care, criminal-justice reform, educational opportunities for all, dealing with climate change and several other politically charged topics designed to build a dynamic new world.
He also received an honorary doctorate as part of the ceremony.
In his address Zuckerberg said: “I want to talk about three ways to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose: by taking on big meaningful projects together, by redefining equality so everyone has the freedom to pursue purpose, and by building community across the world.”
He noted that this new generation he envisions must first deal with “tens of millions of jobs replaced by automation like self-driving cars and trucks,” and assembly-line robots that eliminate most positions now held by modern laborers. He said that if we can collectively prepare for these dynamic changes, he believes there will be amazing opportunities to accomplish greatness. But everyone has to pull together.
“It’s time for our generation-defining public works,” Zuckerberg said. “How about stopping climate change before we destroy the planet and getting millions of people involved manufacturing and installing solar panels? How about curing all diseases and asking volunteers to track their health data and share their genomes? Today we spend 50 times more treating people who are sick than we spend finding cures so people don’t get sick in the first place. That makes no sense. We can fix this.
“How about modernizing democracy so everyone can vote on line, and personalizing education so everyone can learn?”
“These achievements are within our reach. Let’s do them all in a way that gives everyone in our society a role. Let’s do big things, not only to create progress but to create purpose,” he said.
Zuckerberg spoke directly about the problem of “wealth inequality” in the nation that he said “hurts everyone. When you don’t have the freedom to take your idea and turn it into a historic enterprise, we all lose. Right now our society is way over-indexed on rewarding success, and we don’t do nearly enough to make it easy for everyone to take lots of shots.
“Let’s face it: There is something wrong with our system when I can leave here and make billions of dollars in 10 years while millions of students can’t afford to pay off their loans, let alone start a business.”
He said he realized that in the present business environment, would-be entrepreneurs with great ideas are afraid to take chances because they lack a cushion to fall back on if the idea fails. And good ideas are usually the result of many trials and errors before there is success.
The answer to this and other social problems would be universal basic income, Zuckerberg said. He said a program like that would “give everyone a cushion to try new things. We are going to change jobs many times, so we need affordable childcare to get to work and healthcare that (isn’t) tied to one company. We’re all going to make mistakes, so we need a society that focuses less on locking us up or stigmatizing us. And as technology keeps changing, we need to focus more on continuous education throughout our lives.”
Zuckerberg said he knew that the freedom for everyone to pursue purpose will not be free. Consequently “people like me should pay for it. Many of you will do well, and you should too,” he told the Harvard graduates.
Because he believes this, Zuckerberg said he and his wife, Pricilla have started the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative through which they have “committed our wealth to promoting equal opportunity. These are the values of our generation. It was never a question of if we were going to do this. The only question was when.”
He said it will be important that the new generation works to create a sense of purpose for everyone “by building community. And when our generation says everyone, we mean everyone in the world . . . In a survey asking millennials around the world what defines our identity, the most popular answer wasn’t nationality, religion or ethnicity; it was ‘citizen of the world.’ That’s a big deal.
“Every generation expands the circle of people we consider ‘one of us.’ For us, it now encompasses the entire world,” he said.