Megatrends 2010

"Real" Men Losing Power

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Do men rule? Corporate America? Wall Street? Washington? The family? Quick, what's your answer?

Yes, men rule! Macho men. Tough guys. Heroes. The rational, aggressive male mind rules the world. Every day men charge into the Wall Street coliseum. Gladiators with a killer instinct. They love the roar of the crowd. With testosterone and greed surging through their brains, real men don't want to just "beat" the market. They want to make "a killing." They are captured by dreams of the Dow 100,000, NASDAQ 5,000, of being the next Millionaire Next Door.

And if you are one of these "Real Men," trust me you won't be caught dead reading Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism.

Real men will see this view of the future as a threat to their power, an assault on their egos. Real men love wars. Bring it on! They love extreme sports, like a macho challenge between an American "war president" and a fanatic Iranian demagogue amassing nukes in preparation for his "final war between Islam and the West." In war, "conscience" is a liability for real men.

You bet real men will dismiss Megatrends 2010. Futurist Patricia Aburdene describes a paradigm shift taking place below the radar of our male-dominated breaking-news world, with our relentless onslaught of business, financial and geopolitical battles. A real man's brain loves this total focus on the moment and instant gratification. A real man operates like a lion stalking prey on the Serengeti, a Special Forces commando behind enemy lines. You focus, hunt, destroy. Survival of the fittest or die. There is only the now.

Today, the brain of a real man is dominated and controlled by a short-term myopia. Real men are psychologically incapable of seeing the future.

Folks, the grand cultural wars raging across the globe are not between two great religions, not conservative versus liberal, not democracy versus totalitarian dictators, not between medievalism and modernism, not even some sweeping battle between the cultures of Islam and the West. The real war is between men and women, and not some pop-psychology Mars-Venus nonsense. This is for the control of world cultures, a war between how men think and how women think, and it'll soon reach a tipping point and transform the world.

Unfortunately, this new feminine paradigm will not emerge until the male brain has played its final strategic move, when it self-destructs with the "final war between Islam and the West," as Iran's president calls it, ending in a global nuclear wakeup call for the feminine spirit.

And since that "war to end all wars" has been widely predicted by neoconservatives and also widely prophesized by religious fundamentalists on both sides, perhaps within the next two years, it's highly likely that Aburdene's Megatrends 2010 is a perfect crystal ball with an accurate vision on the coming new world order ... after the "final war."

Yes, Megatrends 2010 will be rejected outright as heresy by the real men ruling Wall Street, Corporate America and Washington. But if you are on the fence, if you have an open mind to alternatives, to long-term thinking, if you sense that things just can't keep going the way they are going, and if you're looking for a template, blueprint, formula, plan -- a manifesto for the future -- then Megatrends 2010 is must-read.

Aburdene has been one of America's leading futurists since the original Megatrends, written with John Naisbitt back in 1984. Since then we've seen Megatrends 2000, Megatrends for Women, Global Paradox, Megatrends Asia and Re-Inventing the Corporation. Today Aburdene sees seven new trends transforming the world of Wall Street, Corporate America and Washington.

We differ on one key aspect. Aburdene sees an evolutionary shift in progress. I agree with her end result. It will happen: The mind of the real man is destroying us.

But the truth is the male mind is obsessed with that "final war" scenario that is highly probable in the near term. And that will trigger a sudden paradigm shift opening the door to a new world order ruled by a feminine/spiritual energy. Here are Aburdene's seven megatrends, already in progress, racing under macho man's radar, threatening real men everywhere:

   1. The Rise of Spirituality. Aburdene says we "look within" in uncertain times.. Polls show 78% of us    want more spirituality. Conscious executives will transform American business. 
   2. The Dawn of Conscious Capitalism. Free enterprise is already being reinvented, respecting           shareholders, making the world a better place and boosting profits. 
   3. Leading from the Middle. The greedy overpaid CEO is vanishing. Line managers will create lasting changes by returning us to core values and moral authority. 
   4. Spirituality in Business. Faith and spirit are now commonplace in many workplaces. Aburdene says Ford, Intel and other firms already sponsor employees' religious networks; chambers of commerce sponsor "spiritual" brown-bag lunches. 
   5. The Values-Driven Consumer. A new "conscious consumer" is creating an emerging multibillion dollar mass market beyond hybrids and organic food, "voting" on "value" brands. 
   6. The Wave of Conscious Solutions. A bit too touchy-feely? No. Aburdene's evidence proves business is introducing strange activities, like vision quests, forgiveness trainings, meditation, yoga, and yes, it is having a positive impact on the bottom line. 
   7. The Boom in Socially Responsible Investing. Stock portfolios have now invested more than $1 trillion in socially responsible companies, a trend that's forcing all businesses to get on the bandwagon.

In the final chapter of Megatrends 2010 Aburdene discusses a "Spiritual Transformation of Capitalism." She's firm and clear: The emerging new free enterprise is not based on the extremes of either greed or altruism, it is based on a renewed "enlightened self-interest" where "plenty of corporate 'good guys' are trouncing the S&P 500." Get with it or get left behind.

Too touchy-feely for all you real men out there? Yes, I thought you'd hate it! But be forewarned: Your macho myopia is, paradoxically, making you tough guys highly vulnerable in the new world order. You will be easy pickings after this "final war" between men and women, between "real men" and a powerful new feminine spirit.