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Steel has long anchored modern construction, but its environmental toll is staggering: producing a single ton emits nearly two tons of CO2. Steel is also complex to manage in construction processes, which prevents smaller contractors and projects from using it. A material invented at the University of Maryland will soon offer a radical alternative. Called Superwood, it has a 50% greater tensile strength than steel and a strength-to-weight ratio that’s 10 times better. It’s lighter, tougher, and also locks away carbon. After seven years of development, the startup commercializing the technology will begin mass production this summer. Weve spent years perfecting our molecular reconfiguration process to maintain the extraordinary properties demonstrated in the lab, while making the process commercially viable, Alex Laucofounder and executive chairman of InventWoodtells me over email. [Photo: InventWood] The company was founded in 2016 by Dr. Liangbing Hu at the University of Maryland, after he developed the first transparent wood as a better insulating alternative to glass. What began as pioneering academic work evolved through several breakthrough iterations, Lau says. Hu turned his research into Superwood in 2017. The work was documented in a 2018 Nature paper that revealed a method of transforming ordinary wood into a substance rivaling titanium alloys. The discovery held the promise of a sustainable, CO2 negative construction material that was better than steel, but it was far from commercialization. During this time, Dr. Hu focused on further refining the technology and bringing manufacturing costs down. Then, in 2021, Lau recognized that the technology had reached sufficient maturity for full-scale commercialization. At that point, I helped pull together a complete team to kick off the manufacturing process, he says. Since 2021, we’ve been intensely focused on creating a scalable process and ensuring the quality standards necessary to bring SuperWood to market. Magnified images of (left) untreated wood and the same wood treated by a new process (right) invented by UMD engineers that compresses the natural structures of wood into a new material five times thinner. [Images: courtesy University of Maryland] How Superwood is made Making Superwood is a complex process, but it requires two primary steps. First, lignina polymer that stiffens wood and gives it its brown hueis partially dissolved using food-grade chemicals. As Orlando J. Rojas, a professor at Finlands Aalto University, noted back when the discovery came out in 2018, the trick is to remove just enough lignin to maximize hydrogen bonding between cellulose fibers without compromising its structural integrity. Next, the wood is compressed at 150°F, collapsing its cellular structure into a dense matrix. The result is a material five times thinner than the original, but 12 times stronger and 10 times tougher. This molecular reconfiguration eliminates woods inherent weaknesses. Natural wood is porous and prone to rot, but Superwoods tightly packed cellulose fibers create a barrier against moisture, termites, and fungi. Its Class A fire ratingachieved without chemical flame retardantsstems from its density, which starves flames of oxygen. Lab tests proved its ballistic resistance: A projectile pierced untreated wood, but it lodged halfway through a same-thickness Superwood block. Unlike steel or carbon fiber, it requires no energy-intensive smelting or synthetic resins. Initially, it took weeks to make a single plank of Superwood, but Inventwoods team streamlined the process to just a few hours, enabling bulk production of the material. Lau tells me that the companys first facility in Frederick, Maryland, will produce one million square feet of Superwood annually starting this summer, focusing initially on interior finishes for commercial and high-end residential projects. A second phase in fall 2025 will introduce exterior-grade panels for siding and roofing. He envisions structural beams and columns within a few years, pending certification. Their plan is to build a larger facility that will scale to over 30 million square feet, enabling use in infrastructure and large developments, Lau says. If you are wondering about how architects and crews can actually use this to build, you are not alone: If its stronger than steel, does it require special tools? According to Lau, contractors can cut, drill, and fasten Superwood with standard woodworking tools, though its density may demand adjusted techniques. No specialized tools are required, making adoption straightforward, Lau says. The materials stability minimizes warping, and polymer coatings enable outdoor use without sacrificing aesthetics. Its compressed fibers deepen natural grain patterns, yielding finishes akin to tropical hardwoods. [Photo: courtesy University of Maryland] It can change everything Lau didnt disclose information about price, tought he did say Superwoods initial pricing will be premium but competitive with top-notch tropical hardwoods and hybrid woods, which are composite materials that combine wood with other materials like steel or concrete. This means that, pound by pound, it will be much more expensive than steel at this point, more than 10 times in fact: $12.50 to $25 per pound for Superwood as opposed to steels $1 to $2 per pound. But then you need to factor in other factors to understand its true cost. If Superwoods offers 10x superior strength-to-weight ratio, a 10-pound beam could match the load-bearing capacity of a 100-pound steel beam, in theory effectively reducing its effective cost to $1.25 to $2.50 per pound when adjusted for performance. [Photo: InventWood] You also need to factor in its resistance to corrosion and rot, plus the fact that you can make a building entirely out of Superwood and eliminate the need for other structural elements and wall materials. Then theres the economical and environmental cost of fire retardants, since the material naturally retards fire even if its wood. Since wood comes from the most effective living carbon sequestration system on the planettrees!it will actually suck CO2 out of the atmosphere (the material is made from wood from sustainable tree farms). Clearly, Superwoods long-term value proposition narrows the gap with steel in relative and absolute terms. The company expects to achieve better economics as they scale up production too, Lau adds. Superwood, in theory, could extend beyond construction. Early research proposed applications in vehicles, aircraft, and furniture, leveraging its moldability and cost savings over carbon fiber. For now, InventWood is focused on buildings, however, where steel and concrete account for a massive carbon footprint, pollution, and economic bill. We want to get to the bones of the building, Lau says. He believes that Superwood can transform the construction industry. We will see when the first batches roll out this summer and companies start using them.
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E-Commerce
Across the country, nonprofits are confronting a sudden and severe financial shock: federal funding theyve long relied on is being pulled backabruptly, and in some cases, entirely. In recent weeks, the Trump administrations spending cuts have triggered frozen contracts, rescinded grants, and stop-work orders across federal agencies. The moment has highlighted the financial vulnerability of many institutions, and underscored the importance of building more resilient, diversified funding models that arent solely dependent on federal dollars. Organizations that once built multi-year budgets around government commitments are now rewriting financial plans weekly just to keep up. Delays, backlogs, and revenue gaps have become routine. According to the Urban Institute, between 60% and 80% of nonprofits that rely on public funding would face serious financial shortfalls if that support disappeared. Due to resource constraints, many nonprofits have treated financial management as a day-to-day operational function, with less emphasis on its role as a strategic driver of mission impact. But in todays environment, that approach is no longer sustainable. Volatilityfrom elections, markets, and geopoliticshas become a permanent feature of the landscape. Organizations that fail to adapt risk not only missing opportunities but also jeopardizing their ability to weather the next downturn. To meet this challenge, nonprofits must elevate financial strategy to a central pillar of leadership. That starts with three critical shifts: Investment oversight must be proactive, not passive In todays climate, checking in on financial performance once a year just isnt enough. Many nonprofits are now reviewing liquidity monthly or quarterly and running scenario planning exercises to stress-test how unexpected shiftslike a delayed government payment or a rescinded grantwould affect their ability to meet payroll or sustain core programs. Boards can support this work by ensuring theres a clear investment policy aligned with the organizations real-world cash flow needs and risk tolerance, and by revisiting that policy regularly. Investment committees, in turn, can work with advisors to shift more assets into more liquid investments, giving them flexibility when contract payments are late or major gifts dont come through. Donor strategy must become a financial strategy. With once-reliable federal funding no longer a given, nonprofits must actively cultivate alternative revenue streamsand that responsibility shouldn’t fall solely to the development team. Donor engagement must be tightly integrated with financial planning. That includes segmenting and expanding donor bases to identify those with capacity to give more, using predictive analytics to anticipate giving patterns and gaps, and aligning fundraising calendars with financial forecasts. Finance and development teams, or external financial partners, should work together to build models that estimate how different donor strategies impact year-end liquidity and long-term planning. In short: Strengthening donor revenue is not just a development goal, its a financial imperative. Endowments must be treated as mission-sustaining tools. Endowments are more than rainy-day fundstheyre meant to ensure the perpetuity of the organizations. Over the past two decades, nonprofits have taken important steps to diversify their portfolios. In fact, average exposure to public equity and fixed income has dropped from 70% to 39%, while allocations to alternatives such as private equity and hedge funds have more than doubled. That shift can offer stronger returns, but diversification isnt a one-size-fits-all strategy. For organizations that depend heavily on government contracts or grants, an overly rigid or illiquid portfolio can create real vulnerabilities in times of stress. Take, for example, some of the nations most prestigious universities. Even institutions with multi-billion-dollar endowments have recently moved to sell private equity holdings to increase liquidity, citing political and financial uncertainty around federal funding. When organizations of that scale and sophistication reconsider their exposure to illiquid assets under stress, its a clear signal: Alternative investments must be approached strategically, with a careful understanding of both short- and long-term cash needs and risk tolerance. A tiered approach to liquidityreserving some assets for near-term access while investing the rest for long-term growthcan help organizations stay resilient, especially those that rely heavily on government grants or contracts to fund operations. Ultimately, resilient philanthropic missions require resilient financial models. That means seeking expertise not only in investment performance, but in governance, risk management, and long-range planning. Advisors and teams that understand how to connect financial oversight to mission outcomes can help institutions build confidence internally, with donors, and with the communities they serve. The current crisis has made one thing clear: Static portfolios and static strategies are liabilities. Financial oversight must evolve from a compliance checkbox into a dynamic leadership function, one that safeguards todays operations and secures tomorrows mission.
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E-Commerce
In 2020, following ferocious wildfires across Southern California, Jasmin Singer and her wife, Moore Rhys, decided they had had enough of Los Angeles. They packed their bags and moved to New York state. They debated between Ithaca and Geneva before finally picking Rochester, about a six-hour drive northwest from New York City. Rochester won out in part because of a more stable climate and progressive policies aimed at combating climate change, caused by the burning of fuels like gasoline and coal. We were all kinds of nutty about climate, said Singer about picking Rochester. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is a collaboration between The Associated Press and the Rochester Institute of Technology. ___ One of Americas first boomtowns and a former manufacturing hub, Rochester has captured the eye of some people looking to escape extreme weather events. Other midcentury industrial urban centers such as Buffalo, an hours drive from Rochester, and Duluth, Minnesota, have garnered attention in recent years for being known as climate havens. That is because they are less likely to experience events fueled and exacerbated by climate change, such as droughts, hurricanes, and wildfires. Far from coasts, cities like Rochester, Buffalo, and Duluth dont face hurricanes or storm surges. At the same time, they are connected to large lakes, giving them an ample water supply and helping insulate against drought impacts. Still, while anecdotes abound of people who are moving to such cities for climate reasons, there isnt yet evidence of a large demographic shift. There hasnt been a clear signal that people are leaving to climate [friendly] regions, or regions with an abundant water resource, said Alex de Sherbinin, director and senior researcher at the Center for Integrated Earth System Information at Columbia University. That is expected to change in coming decades, as climate will increasingly be a factor driving migration. It already is in many places around the world, particularly developing nations that lack the infrastructure and resources to withstand climate shocks. Each year, natural disasters force more than 21 million people from their homes, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Rochester has many draws Originally from New Jersey, Singer said Rochester also appealed to her for a few reasons, even though she had never visited the city before the moveaffordable housing, its move toward increasing renewable energy use, and its proximity to eastern coastal cities, among them. It was also important to be somewhere culturally diverse and friendly toward LGBTQ people, Singer said. For Jon Randall, wildfires that hit the Bay Area in 2022 pushed him to leave California. For six weeks you couldnt go outside, said Randall of the fires, adding that he and his wife searched online for potential places to live and retire. They picked Rochester, in part to be closer to family in Long Island, where he is originally from. The average annual temperature in Rochester, which has 200,000 residents, hovers around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius)warmer than that in the summer and colder in the winter. The city is home to the University of Rochester, a private research institution, and the Rochester Institute of Technology, which sits in the southwest suburbs. Rochester is also known for its garbage platesfrench fries covered in hamburger meat and baked beans, a favorite local comfort food. The city has adopted several progressive climate plans in recent years, including an initiative to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030. Its part of a statewide push to build cleaner infrastructure, such as expanding its electric vehicle charging network. In 2019, the city launched an initiative that gives up to $9,000 to new resident homebuyers. Climate is often one of many factors in decision to move Studies have found that people rarely choose where they move based on climate reasons alone. They also weigh other factors such as affordability, family ties, and job opportunities. People move where they think they can maintain a certain quality of life, and Rochesterwith its freshwater resourcescan make for a more attractive destination compared to other cities, de Sherbinin said. Duluth garnered a climate-friendly reputation after commissioning an economic development package to attract newcomers in 2019. That same year, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown called the city a climate refuge in a speech. No such proclamations have been made by local officials recently, including in Rochester. Mayor Malik Evans office did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment for this story. Rochester has a large Latino population Rochester has welcomed a steady increase of Latinos over the last several years. Today, 61,000 residents in Monroe Country, the largest in the Rochester area, identify as Latino or Hispanic, with 70% Puerto Rican, according to a 2019 report by the Center for Governmental Research, a Rochester-based consulting firm. Arelis Gomez moved to Rochester in 2016 from Puerto Rico in search of work opportunities and better education for her children, following her brother who had moved to New York City a few years prior. Arelis Ayala, her mother, followed her daughter in 2019, finally making the move after wanting to leave since Hurricane Jorge in 1998, which hammered many parts of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. It was a really hard decision, Ayala said about her move to be closer to her daughter. Ayala and her daughter hope to eventually bring the rest of the family to Rochester. Jonathan Gonzalez and his then-pregnant wife moved to Rochester after another major storm, Hurricane Maria, pummeled Puerto Rico in 2017. It was pretty difficult to live in Puerto Rico those days, Gonzalez said, adding that everything, including hospitals, were closed because of no electricity. His mother already had a home in Rochester, which made it a natural place to go. Starting over was hard, though Gonzalez feels at home now. I love Rochester, he said. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Toni Duncan of Rochester Institute of Technology and Nadia Lathan of The Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Leaders today are stretched to the breaking point. Many managers enter their roles wanting to coach and care for their teams. But in todays workplace, that vision is colliding with a lengthening list of competing pressures: performance metrics, shifting workplace norms, and the unrelenting emotional labor of guiding teams through crisis after crisis. As one manager told me, I want to be an empathetic leader and support my team, but we still have to make the numbers. Mostly, I just stay later myself. Another admitted, Last year I ended up in the hospital. Newly released workplace data from Gallup reflects this worrying reality. In 2024, global engagement declined for just the second time in the past 12 years. It fell in 2020, as the pandemic swept across the globe, and it fell again last year. Importantly, Gallup reports, the drop in engagement was not due to worker engagement levels. It was entirely due to declining engagement levels among managers. The rise and fall of manager engagement So why are managers feeling less engaged on the job? Gallup cites workplace disruption over the past five years due to the pandemic, a hiring boom and bust, workplace restructurings, supply chain challenges, and changing expectations around technology and flexible work. The political and social upheaval of recent years has likely also taken a toll, particularly as managers are often tasked to pull teams together through fractious times. In a 2024 survey by mental healthcare provider Headspace, 98% of employees reported that global events affect their mental health at work. According to a recent report by mental health benefits broker Lyra, 85% of human resources leaders agree that managers are an integral part of our workplace mental health strategy. Unfortunately, just 39% also agree that they provide those managers with resources to support mental well-being at work. The disproportionate stress that managers face, the report adds, is due to high expectations for supporting workforce mental health paired with limited resources. We can observe demographic differences in who is the most impacted, too. Notably, Gallup found the steepest declines in engagement among managers under 35 (down 5%) and female managers (down 7%). In my experience, these are also the managers most likely to absorb emotional labortaking on additional responsibility for their teams mental health while struggling to set boundaries for themselves. Its a recipe for leadership fatigue. How managers can overcome leadership exhaustion So where does that leave todays leaders, especially those torn between showing up for their teams and preserving their own capacity? The answer isnt to dial down your empathy: Its to practice that empathy in ways that are sustainable. That means setting boundaries, protecting your own energy, and modeling healthy leadership. Here are a few ways to start. Stop fixing and start coaching. Its natural to want to help when a team member brings a problem to you, but jumping in with solutions can create dependency and drain your reserves. Instead, respond with curiosity: What have you tried so far? or What do you think would help? This approach empowers your team to develop resilience and creative thinking while also preserving your bandwidth. They may even come up with some great solutions that hadnt occurred to you. Structure routines to preserve your own energy. Theres no rule that says good leaders need an open-door policy or a standing Monday meeting. If your current routines are depleting you, change them. Could you cluster one-on-ones into two days a week? Shift updates to asynchronous channels like email or Slack? Your energy is a finite resourcestructure your week to protect it. Interrogate urgency. There are some emergencies, but not everything is an emergency. Preserve your energy for when you really need it. Start asking, Does this need to happen now? and Whats the worst that happens if this waits? Helping your team (and yourself) reset expectations around urgency can relieve pressure and improve decision-making. Pursue your own goals. Your identity is not just the person holding everything together. Leaders need renewal, too. Whether its training for a marathon, learning to play the piano, or pursuing a professional certification, make sure you have something on the horizon thats just for you. These personal goals restore energy and remind you that your needs matter, too. Delegate and celebrate others strengths. Delegation isnt just efficientit builds trust and engagement. Maybe youre not great at spreadsheets, or memo-writing, or icebreakers. Somebody on your team probably is. Hand over those responsibilities and praise mightily their superior expertise in the areas you despise, both to them and in front of others, so theyre recognized for that work. Identifying where others excel and delegating effectively can alleviate pressure and allow others to shine. Leading with presence and compassion isnt easy, but it shouldnt be unsustainable. Empathy isnt a blank check on your energy or availability. By setting healthy boundaries, modeling sustainable practices, and protecting your own well-being, you can lead with strength and compassion over the long term. Start with one small shiftsay no to a nonessential meeting, delegate one lingering task, or block an hour for something that restores you. Your team doesnt just need you to care. They need you to last.
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E-Commerce
Adam Becker is a science journalist and astrophysicist. He has written for The New York Times, BBC, NPR, Scientific American, New Scientist, Quanta, Undark, Aeon, and others. He also recorded a video series with the BBC, and has appeared on numerous radio shows and podcasts, including Ologies, The Story Collider, and KQED Forum. Whats the big idea? Tech billionaires like to hype up delusional doomsday fantasies in which they are the saviors and overlords of civilization. Many people may just laugh or disregard these outlandish claims, but a closer look reveals the scary truth of how seriously, specifically, and consequentially these thought leaders are committed to their ridiculous visions for the future. They abstain from making meaningful choices to improve the here and now because of their faith in unreasonable techno-solutions. It is important that society stays aware that their nightmares and promised utopias are founded in fiction. Below, Becker shares five key insights from his new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valleys Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity. Listen to the audio versionread by Becker himselfin the Next Big Idea App. 1. Tech billionaires have ludicrously implausible power fantasies about the future. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and other tech billionaires have made surprisingly outlandish claims about what a good future for humanity should look like. Elon Musk has spoken repeatedly about the need to set up a colony on Mars. He has said that hes going to put a million people on Mars by 2050 by sending one rocket launch a day for years, and that the colony needs to be self-sufficient, surviving even if the supply rockets from Earth stop coming. Musk contends that this is vital for the future of humanity, claiming that our species will go extinct if it doesnt happen soon. He claims Mars is our lifeboat for civilization. This is all pure fantasy: Mars is too inhospitable to allow a million people to live there anytime remotely soon, if ever. The gravity is too low, the radiation is too high, theres no air, and the Martian dirt is filled with poison. Theres no plausible way around these problems, and thats not even all of them. Nor does the idea of Mars as a lifeboat for humanity make sense: Even after an extinction event like an asteroid strike, Earth would still be more habitable than Mars. Mammals survived the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs, but no mammals could survive unprotected on Mars today. Putting all of that aside, if Musk somehow did put a colony on Mars, it would be wholly dependent on his company, SpaceX, for supplies. Thats one feature that tech oligarchs fantasies have in common: they all involve billionaires holding total control over the rest of us. 2. AI isnt going to be as good (or bad!) as the tech industry claims. Silicon Valley billionaires and thought leaders have been making wild promises about AI. They claim that AI will soon become superintelligent, far outstripping human intellect, and this will lead to a total revolution in human civilizationif these godlike AIs dont destroy humanity first. Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, says that superintelligent AI is coming within the next four years. He also claims that once we have it, every product and service will halve in price every two years as AI takes over the economy. Bill Gates has made similar claims, suggesting that AI will free us for a life of leisure as it caters to our every need. Other industry leaders claim AI will revolutionize science, ushering in an unprecedented era of discovery and near-magical technology. Theres virtually no evidence for any of this: it is specious reasoning amplified by tech industry money and hype. These are narratives based on science fiction. They fundamentally misunderstand both the nature of intelligence and how current AI systems operate. Even calling something like ChatGPT AI is misleading; its a marketing term thats gotten way out of hand. 3. Were not colonizing space. Tech billionaires like Musk and Bezos have dreamed of colonizing space for decades. Despite their promises, its not happening. Musks dreams of Mars are modest compared to some of the other specious fantasies spun by tech billionaires and the think tanks they fund. Bezos doesnt want to put a million people in spacehe wants a trillion people living in a fleet of giant cylindrical space stations with interior areas bigger than Manhattan. He claims this is the best way to ensure future generations thrive. Otherwise, he warns, our species will stagnate on Earth. Yet such space stations would be staggeringly difficult and phenomenally dangerous to build. And Bezoss concerns about stagnation are based on a mix of faulty reasoning and an attachment to long-discredited ideas about sociology and history. Others in the tech industry (or funded by tech billionaires) have advocated for a future beyond our solar system, pushing humanity to take over the galaxy or the entire universe. This is even more unlikely to work: the distances between stars are too great, and theres little reason to leave the solar system. The impossible promise of an interstellar empire is held out as a shiny fantasy to justify the actions of tech billionaires. Musk has used the supposed need to colonize Mars as an excuse to ignore details like worker safety at SpaceX. Bezos has said that the pursuit of such a future is the most important thing he could be doing with his fortune, more important than addressing Earthbound problems here and now. 4. How Big Tech gets science wrong and distracts from present threats. Tech industry leaders often present themselves as scientific experts on everything from human biology to astrophysics to nuclear fusion. The truth is that they are business leaders, not scientists, and frequently get in far over their heads when discussing scientific concepts. They believe that their wealth makes them general experts on everything. Musk has repeatedly gotten facts about Mars wrong, even when hes been publicly corrected. He has repeatedly claimed that Mars can be terraformed (made into a more Earth-like planet) by using nuclear weapons to melt the Martian ice caps. Musk contends this would beef up the Martian atmosphere enough to allow humans to live there, but this isnt true: There arent nearly enough frozen gases in those ice caps to get the job done. When scientists pointed this out to him, he doubled down. Hes not alone in this. Altman has never given good justification for his claims about AI. Bezoss ideas about space come from old plans from the 1970s that were later shown to be unworkable. These arent just careless mistakes about unimportant details. Getting these scientific facts wrong allows these tech billionaires to maintain faith in their power fantasies and gives them an excuse to ignore todays problems. Altmn has said that the AI systems he believes are coming soon will be able to solve global warming quickly and easily, and therefore, hes not concerned about new AI data centers requiring huge amounts of power. Pushing humanity toward the impossible goals of tech oligarchs will lead to destructive consequences for everyone. 5. The racist origins of the tech industrys core ideology. Underneath the bizarre proclamations of tech billionaires, there is an ideology that technology can solve every problem, even fundamentally social and political problems like strife in the Middle East or political polarization in the United States. This ideology of technological salvation stems from a toxic mix of misunderstood science fiction, fringe religious movements, and racist pseudoscience. The same online subcultures that spawned the ideas about AI that Altman, Musk, and the rest have swallowed also have connections with the American far-right and a troubling history of promoting scientifically discredited claims about fundamental differences in innate intelligence between different races. This goes hand in hand with their obsession with AI: They believe that AI can become godlike because they believe that intelligence is a single measurable trait corresponding to IQ, and that a sufficiently powerful AI would be able to simply dial up its IQ to an arbitrarily high number. But IQ has always been used for eugenics and institutional racism, and theres little evidence that it measures anything real about people. Its mostly just been used to say that some groups of people are inherently better than others. Its no surprise that such stories are attractive to billionaires who want to justify their desire to remain in power over the rest of us forever. Recognizing the hollowness of these ideas is the first step to taking back our power. They want to set the terms on which we imagine the future, but the future isnt theirs for the taking. The future is something we all build together. They want us to believe that their promised utopias and nightmares are our only option. But in reality, the future is open. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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E-Commerce
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