Summary: <a href="http://www.gayleallen.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Blog-Post-Doug-Rushkoff.png" rel="attachment wp-att-2922"></a>Named one of ten most influential thinkers in the world by <a href="http://web.mit.edu/">MIT</a>, Doug Rushkoff asks some seriously big questions on this episode of Curious Minds.<br> The biggest one is: what if an economy predicated on growth is unsustainable? Growth at companies like <a href="http://www.ge.com/">General Electric (GE)</a> used to mean jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. That same growth, at companies like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/">Google</a>, yields, at most, tens of thousands of jobs. As growth-oriented tech companies absorb more jobs through smarter tech and automation, is this an opportunity to rethink the nature of work, jobs, and the overall economy? <br> <a href="http://www.rushkoff.com/">Doug Rushkoff</a> asks us to consider that topic in his latest bestselling book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Rocks-Google-Bus-Prosperity/dp/1617230170">Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity</a>. Rushkoff is a professor of media theory and digital economics at <a href="http://www.qc.cuny.edu/">Queens College, CUNY</a>. He is the bestselling author of a dozen other books, including <a href="http://www.rushkoff.com/books/present-shock/">Present Shock</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Program-Be-Programmed-Commands-Digital/dp/1501262823">Program or Be Programmed</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Inc-Corporatism-Conquered-World/dp/0812978501">Life Inc.</a><br> In this episode, we talk about:<br> <br> Why Doug sees growth as the culprit in our current economy<br> The unmet promise of technology and the long tail for artists and creatives<br> How big data analytics reduces unpredictability and, thereby, innovation <br> Ways more of us can take ownership of the platforms putting us out of work<br> How it is not the job we want but the meaning, purpose, and material benefits work gives <br> Money as a verb<br> How currency tools like blockchain can help us rethink power and authority<br> Twitter as a textbook case of tech success but growth company failure<br> How digital distributism can trump digital industrialism<br> The shift from tech as energizing to energy sucking<br> <br> Ruskhoff also talks about how he thinks about technology use in his own life, including which tools he chooses to use and why. <br> Selected Links to Topics Mentioned<br> <a href="https://twitter.com/rushkoff?lang=en">@rushkoff</a><br> <a href="http://www.rushkoff.com">www.rushkoff.com</a><br> <a href="http://www.rushkoff.com/books/throwing-rocks-at-the-google-bus/">Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus by Doug Rushkoff</a><br> <a href="http://www.ebay.com/">eBay</a><br> <a href="https://www.etsy.com/">Etsy</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system">Operating system</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazaar">Bazaar</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades">Crusades</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man">Burning Man</a><br> <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/acquisition">Acquisition</a><br> <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ipo.asp">IPO</a><br> <a href="http://www.wired.com/">Wired</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Andersen">Chris Anderson</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail">Long Tail</a><br> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Tail-Business-Selling/dp/1401309666">The Long Tail by Chris Anderson</a><br> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Free-The-Future-Radical-Price/dp/1401322905">Free by Chris Anderson</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondo_2000">Mondo 2000</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boing_Boing">Boing Boing</a><br> <a href="https://en.wikipedia."></a>
