Memetics – a unit of cultural information that passes on from one person to the next, like a virus
Genuine Report // 015
Fifteenth Edition
Content
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It begins…..
with a bang!
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Forecast
Industry and Leaders
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The Twenty Ten’s
#fakenews
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Sports & Combat
The Gift that Gives Back
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Mixtape XV
Getting the Top 10 List Wrong
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Fashionscape
Beard Oil and Butt Injections.
It begins
…..with a bang!
As the polarization of political attitudes continues, the public protester, as foreseen by Time in 2011 remains the defining character of a generation.
Hong Kong’s masked protesters are now impacting the once stalwart economy. Lebanese and Iranian protests tie to government support of failing economic platforms, with taxes on WhatsApp and gas hikes.
South America’s upheaval dominates global headlines as Bolivia’s military ousts President Morales, IMF austerity measures on Ecuador and inequality in Chile cause public revolt, Venezuela is still Venezuela. Argentina elects President Fernandez who faces an inflation rate at 50%+, with renewed U.S. tariffs on Aluminum and Steel, also set onto Brazil.
Trump is impeached - dividing the U.S. even further down party lines, Bernie Sanders had a heart attack and still campaigns. The 3rd British General Election in the last 4 years elects Boris Johnson to get Brexit done in 2020. 9 Catalan separatist are sentenced to 13 years in jail by the Spanish Supreme Court.
EU’s ‘Green New Deal’ presents 2050 to be emission neutral, as California and Australia burn in century wildfires and the Koala Bear inches closer to Functional Extinction. Murray Energy Corp. files for Chapter 11 as demand for coal drops.
Charles Schwab Strikes 26B deal with TD Ameritrade. Bed Bath and Beyond jumps 20% as ex-CEO for Target Mark Tritton joins on.
Business and Commodities
Ø Saudi Aramco - IPO hits 2T valuation on Tadawul Exchange raises cash for MBS.
Ø WeWork’s – IPO evaluation drop from 47B to 20B results in 9.5B bail-out request to Japan’s SoftBank
Ø Health – Insurer’s Anthem, Humana, UnitedHealthGroup grew 5% and Health Insurance Fee is repealed.
Ø Corp Debt – is at 10T in U.S., 50% is attributed to BBB-rated bonds.
Ø Gold – remained stable with low % increase as world waits to see what US/China trade deal results in.
Ø Oil – OPEC+ production cuts drove a strong increase, with continued optimism for Q1.
Geo-Political Highlights
U.S. Senate endorses 738B in military spending, USMCA is keyed into law, and US & China inch towards truce in Trade war set for January 15th 2020. Beijing Daxing airport opens as largest in the world.
Death toll in Afghanistan peaks at 9 year high due to U.S. attacks, as Trump leads peace treaty with Taliban, Trump pulls support to Kurdish YPG, by request of NATO ally Turkey. U.S. kill ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and next top agent in Syria. Bashar Al-Saad censored in EU and on Twitter as he blames Europe for role in Syrian destabilization.
UK’s Prince Andrew defends relations with Jeffrey Epstein, Catholic Church proposes transparency on historic abuse cases.
Forecast /
Industry and Leaders
The rise and fall of some companies this Quarter, also reveal trends one may see continue in the next decade, as local and global economies adapt to the future.
Technology
Higher security needs from hackers, corporations, even other nations to protect automated cars and household
(News) PayPal not supporting Facebook’s digital currency ‘Libra’, CylanceProtect (Blackberry) releases new mobile protection software, Social Media app TikTok (ByteDance) has over 1.5B downloads.
Global Payments – recent acquisition of Total System Services provides a tailored service for restaurants, healthcare, and hospitality.
Keyence – Sensor company poised for 5G and technology
Ping An – The 4th largest Chinese company, with FinTech, Health Care and Smart Cities tech driving its AI & Blockchain expertise.
Retail
Distribution will fashion itself into multi-accessible formats, and ease of delivery replacing the dept. store.
(News) Barney’s New York files for bankruptcy, and LVMH buys lux brand Tiffany for 16B.
Uber – With a strong food delivery market, potential Tesla Partnership will quickly eradicate issues like their recent lock out from London.
Amazon – continued growth after record breaking holiday season.
FedEx – was hit with terrible earning this Quarter, product delivery will be foremost in the next few years, if they lose someone else will win.
Food and Pharma
What we put into are bodies and how we distribute it will continue to redefine the shape of the world and be shaped by world politics
(News) Chinese Wens Foodstuffs are breeding 500kg pigs.
Beyond Meat – a strong competitor to the meat market with plant-based solutions and company innovation, they could be profitable 2021.
Constellation Brands – imported beers and cannabis business performer with good debt
Entertainment
Mobile and global markets will redefine style and content, and videogames will take over.
(News) CineWorld (UK) buys Cineplex Odeon becomes biggest Cinema Chain in N. America.
CD Projekt – Polish video game maker, producer of Cyberpunk 2077.
Anta Sports – China’s largest sportswear competitor to Nike and Adidas
Industries for 20’s; New Agriculture, Automated Manufacturing, Video Games, Product Delivery.
Industries for the 20th Century; Oil & combustion engine kickbacks, Hollywood Cinema, Brick & Mortar Retail.
The Twenty Ten’s /
#fakenews
2010’s started on a bad foot in the midst of a great recession and international economic downturn that drew political movements to rise up and challenge governments and the economic establishments.
Through the ability to coordinate through technical apps and rally support through social media, the public quickly became empowered.
By the end of the decade, people have become addicted to memes and mobile tech., weakening social bonds and attentions spans, while allowing corporations and governments to track movement and habits, which sets the stage for the 20’s to showcase how that will be used for good and/or for evil.
China rose to the second largest economy in the world, Osama Bin was assassinated, a rising Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant grew to destroy Syria and continue war in the Middle East. Russia pushed its dying superpower to annex Crimea, a push into Ukraine and cyber influence with the U.S. elections.
The times were signified with an introduction of IPad when Steve Jobs was still innovating Apple and the Internet of Things became a household term (like Alexa). The tools were taken advantage of by military bodies, and also used to out their activities via whistleblowers like Edward Snowden via media sites like WikiLeaks. Similarly, victims (particularly women) were empowered to call out the behaviours of misogynist and predatory men in power through the #MeToo movement.
A reaction to the changing times, government corruption and a liberal agenda to force acceptance of diverse voices and gender terms resulted in the election of Donald J. Trump and his MAGA supporters looking to rekindle old American values. As America focused inward, the rest of the world saw a rise as India and China take front stage to develop external agendas and a plan to reshape trade routes and the future of the developed world, and even Space.
There’s renewed interest in Space, even a picture of a black hole, with plans for ‘manned’ moon missions, asteroid mining programs and future trips to Mars – along with the introduction of a new Space Force to align with the American Navy, Army and Air Force.
With plans to leave Earth are abound, also the young generation lead the charge to fix the world we live in and raise a challenge to remove ourselves from fossil fuels, to reuse and reduce overall single use waste, rethink our diets and food chain and set deadlines before it’s too late.
Decade Defining Words
They (singular, pronoun)
Fake News
#Hashtag
Sports & Combat /
The gift that gives back
From the 2010’s, Basketball harnessed its global push, e-sport is selling out arena’s, gender-sex discussion was defined in female sport and questions of league corruption and doping programs (see Russia) appear as key stories.
For the 20’s, Peloton is an introduction to the 21st century
There is a benefit to imagine (and later invest) in next level of sport and moreso personal training in the next 10 years. It could be that Peloton, is the next WeWork, but for the time being the training agency looks to turn gym and personal fitness in on its head. The marketing team hit a stumble with a sexist ad that created brand blowback but shouldn’t sink the product and service as a whole. They faced bumps earlier this year as the music industry began filing law suits for licensing and they came through that.
Through the purchase of an expensive hardware program, and then an approachable software licensing option - the fitness world steps into the 21st century in full force.
The idea is futuristic, and also simple. Instead, of stressing to meet a class and brave a commute to a gym for a training session – you can join one on your own time, at your convenience and in your own home. And just like all new tech., not only is it more user friendly it also has more features. As you connect through Peloton, to best-in-class session, one can also validate the performance, their goals and from an athletic perspective ones relation to their competitors.
Why Peloton Works?
The Cycling market is already filled customers willing to pay a premium for quality products and accessories. For Cyclists, it’s a lifestyle and cost is secondary and Peloton can compliment that lifestyle.
Mixtape XV /
Getting the Top 10 List
All the media outlets have presented Top Ten Year/Decade Lists, some even months before the year/decade was over.
With that the tally is in, from the lens of 2019 we judge a decade. Despite any critics best efforts to narrow it down, the likelihood is that the sounds drafted just recently, by kids in basements, producers in bedrooms, and bands in unpopular clubs will grow into the sounds of the 2020’s and only a select few will be noted in their time.
When nostalgic movies recreate the moments of history, they just assume the kids were listening to the music that defined their day but it’s more likely they listened to pop radio / Spotify lists of artists that don’t get remembered long in the future.
My favourite artist of the last 10 years dropped an album in 2007 and I didn’t hear it till years later, Burial’s Untrue (Hyperdub).
Here’s my attempt at getting it wrong in naming the best of the last 10.
Top 10 from the 10’s
1. Worst Behaviour – Drake (Cash Money)
2. Take me to Church – Hozier (Rubyworks)
3. Ruffneck Bass / Dimbow Check – Skrillex (Atlantic)
4. Holocene – Bon Iver (4AD)
5. Late Night – Jadu Heart (Anchor Point)
6. Redbone – Childish Gambino (Glassnote)
7. Gosh – Jamie XX (Young Turks)
8. Royals – Lorde (Universal NZ)
9. Rolling in the Deep – Adele (XL)
10. King Kunta – Kendrick Lamar (TDE)
Playlists
Best of 201X – 21st Century Teenaged angst
Best of NowX – Last Good Sounds of the Decades
Including Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Young Thug, Burial, Kayne West and Leon Vynehall
“Comedian” by Maurizio Cattelan;
debuted during Miami’s Art Basel Fair (The art was taken down on the last days after performance artist David Datuna had already eaten it)
Fashionscape /
Beard Oil and Butt Injections
As Hipsterism seeped into Urban Professional wear mixed with Street wear, the millennial purchasing power grew into luxury branding.
Established fashion-houses began partnering with skate wear and young LA/NY designers. The Kardashians empire, Yeezy’s , OVO and Fenty.
The established generation dressed down with hoodies, even under leather jackets, with lots of denim. Where the youth wore acid washed skinny jeans purchased from high speed retail outfits like H&M and Forever 21. As phones got bigger, and social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat took over the advertising world – fast fashion took over with hauls from FashionNova, AliExpress and Superdown.
‘Mom’ Jeans and ‘Dad’ Sneakers, spurred an odd trend that we may look back at with questions of why?
21st Century Style
Digital Clothing – to dress digital pictures of oneself without actually owning the physical clothes. One of these next level designers, Carlings comes to market with its zero emission ‘Neo-Ex’ line. The idea has a way to go, however, one can attune the market with videogame ‘Skins’ that kids spend billions annually to dress their avatars and online gaming characters. Will videogame makers, Social medias site like Steam, or a collaboration with high fashion be the future of Fashion? Will the next generation be coveting the Zygma platform John Wick suits designed by Dior?
With technology, some Fashion Folk think in the 20’s we may return to a defined uniform look more fitting of predictive ‘Space Age’ styling with whites and metallic colouring. Although the Jetson styling likely won’t be how it comes to fruition, the decade style will likely see a rise in Chinese & Korean Lux brands, headcoverings as a fashion statement, videogame and anime design, continued androgynous professional fashion, and Eco-friendly materials and low carbon foot print processing beyond the Greenwashed styles of Patagonia and Fjällräven