Liquid Fear – Quote by Kjell Nordstrom

· by · in Innovation, Quote of the Day. ·

The overall feeling of doom and gloom in a time when life expectancy is long and life is safer than ever highlights a paradox. Kjell Nordstrom explains that this underlying uneasiness prevalent among the population is all part of something that he has labelled as “Liquid Fear”, an ever‐present
fear without an identifiable root cause.
So how have we got to this situation? Kjell says the answer is simple: There are two major forces that have transformed our lives today: Globalisation and Information
Technology.

2 responses to “Liquid Fear – Quote by Kjell Nordstrom”

  1. Gobalization and technological innovation (especially in information technology) have been with us throughout history. The intensity and ubiquity of these forces vary widely over time but the existence of these forces themselves are not, from my observation, the motivating factor for the “liquid fear”. It is how people, particularly older people, are made to feel as they are impacted by these forces. The liquid fear is comprised of a keen sense of being marginalized, of being considered a negative draw on resources and of being financially insecure for the foreseeable future as the bets they’ve placed for funding retirement go up in smoke. To my mind there is nothing inevitable about this state of affairs. We simply need to find and reward the “positive deviants” who can help us stare fear in the face and conquer it.

  2. Stan, I think you are correct in your analysis…..to put the quote into further context Kjell said:

    “We are consistently being reported to and informed about crises across the world. Even in this 
    morning’s newspapers news regarding the financial meltdowns in both Greece and Portugal are 
    helping to fuel the population’s underlying feelings of uneasiness and fear. That’s on the one hand. 
    Looking at this global situation from a different perspective – we are currently in the biggest growth 
    period in human history and this growth period is comparable to nothing that has ever come before 
    it. 
     
    Similarly you could be mistaken for thinking that Multinational companies run the world. Looking in 
    magazines, newspapers and on television the big brands are everywhere, bombarding us from all 
    angles. They even have a loyal bunch of resistors fighting their dominance. In reality the story is very 
    different. 

    Looking at the last 10 – 15 years the percentage of total GDP that Multinational’s are responsible for 
    is less than ever. The world’s top 100 companies account for less than 20% of global GDP. Out of all 
    new jobs that are created, only 8% are by Multinationals with over 90% originating in small or 
    medium firms. 
    Even the overall feeling of doom and gloom in a time when life expectancy is long and life is safer 
    than ever highlights this paradox.”

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