The Sovereign Individual

Mastering the Transition to the Information Age

By: James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel - preface, William Rees-Mogg

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell

Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.

Few observers of the late-20th century have their fingers so presciently on the pulse of the global political and economic realignment ushering in the new millennium as do James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. Their bold prediction of disaster on Wall Street in Blood in the Streets was borne out by Black Tuesday. In their ensuing best sellar, The Great Reckoning, published just weeks before the coup attempt against Gorbachev, they analyzed the pending collapse of the Soviet Union and foretold the civil war in Yugoslavia and other events that have proved to be among the most searing developments of the past few years.

In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries - the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society", will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government. This outstanding book will replace false hopes and fictions with new understanding and clarified values.

©1999 James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg (P)2019 Simon & Schuster

Food for thought for tomorrow's dynamic world

Much of the concepts presented here are steeped in history and without reading up it is hard to follow. I personally had parts that I could not grasp the significance of because I was under read. I do believe that the ideas in this book present a foundation for a global ideology. The best bits of information can be found towards the end where the author mentions a shift towards Asia, problem solving, and investment as current and future developments. I found the thesis of violence to be particularly interesting as I had my own thoughts about it but I had not put them on paper. Overall I think this book deserves at least 3 readings. The first for grasping main concepts, second for supporting information and the third for details.

Core message of the book, always keep learning and developing yourself. Think about solving problems instead of just having a job. You will be fine don't stress.

My favorite book I've read this year (so far)

Eternal optimism. One can only hope they're right. What a world to live in. Free from all tyranny but your own.

Great foresight

This was a very interesting take on the forthcoming Information Age. As it was written in the 90’s, there are many cases where the subject matter is already occurring. Experiencing the content while the world is rapidly changing with technological evolution is valuable. Many insights can be applied and glad to have read (actually listened to) it.

chapter 9 prediction of the pandemic

As a whole this is a stunning book.. what floored me though was in Chapter 9 as they detailed how pandemics would be declared as a means of taking away more freedoms and gaining control. Nailed it!!

Accurate predictions

It’s incredible how accurate some of the predictions in this book are.

Pandemic, war, the markets being the predominant ideology, failing nation states and others.

It put the modern age in perspective

if you grew up on the Internet like I have a lot of what is spoken in this book will make a lot of sense.

Spot on in these COVID Times

An incredible book that accurately describes what we are going through in 2020, even though it was written almost 25 years ago. Chapter 9 literally stopped me in my tracks on my morning walk. A bit dense in parts, but highly recommended for understanding the collapse fo the Social Nation-State, our immigration challenges, restriction of travel between countries, the pandemic, the rise of the super-rich, and the Sovereign Individual who can create wealth anywhere there is an internet connection.

a lot of great info but questionable conclusions

there was a ton of amazing statistics and facts about the history of society. however a number of the conclusions are a huge stretch from the actual facts.

the idea that workers are extorting their businesses is asinine. if anything businesses exploit workers and the workers have to risk their lives striking just to feed their families.

also, the idea that government, especially big government, will go away has not proven to be true. look at china and the UN and how they control the entire globe.

the points about digital currencies and the metaverse are very accurate though.

Required reading

One of the essentials :) very well narrated version of this classic essential work. Impressed by their accuracy of foresight

One of the smartest book I ever read.

It is unbelievable that 20 years after it has been written, this book still holds so much value about foretelling upcoming changes but that can now be easily seen with naked eyes. To see them since 20 years ago is astounding!