The Conservative Futurist

How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised

By: James Pethokoukis

Narrated by: Séan Marrinan

Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover the surprising case for how conservatism can help us achieve the epic sci-fi future we were promised.

America was once the world’s dream factory. We turned imagination into reality, from curing polio to landing on the Moon to creating the internet. And we were confident that more wonders lay just over the horizon: clean and infinite energy, a cure for cancer, computers and robots as humanity’s great helpers, and space colonies. (Also, of course, flying cars.) Science fiction, from The Jetsons to Star Trek, would become fact.

But as we moved into the late 20th century, we grew cautious, even cynical, about what the future held and our ability to shape it. Too many of us saw only the threats from rapid change. The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Great Downshift in technological progress and economic growth, followed by decades of economic stagnation, downsized dreams, and a popular culture fixated on catastrophe: AI that will take all our jobs if it doesn’t kill us first, nuclear war, climate chaos, plague and the zombie apocalypse. We are now at risk of another half-century of making the same mistakes and pushing a pro-progress future into the realm of impossibility.

But American Enterprise Institute (AEI) economic policy expert and long-time CNBC contributor James Pethokoukis argues that there’s still hope. We can absolutely turn things around—if we the people choose to dream and act. How dare we delay or fail to deliver for ourselves and our children.

With groundbreaking ideas and sharp analysis, Pethokoukis provides a detailed roadmap to a fantastic future filled with incredible progress and prosperity that is both optimistic and realistic. Through an exploration of culture, economics, and history, The Conservative Futurist tells the fascinating story of what went wrong in the past and what we need to do today to finally get it right. Using the latest economic research and policy analysis, as well as insights from top economists, historians, and technologists, Pethokoukis reveals that the failed futuristic visions of the past were totally possible. And they still are. If America is to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, take full advantage of emerging tech from generative AI to CRISPR to reusable rockets, and launch itself into a shining tomorrow, it must again become a fully risk-taking, future-oriented society. It’s time for America to embrace the future confidently, act boldly, and take that giant leap forward.

©2023 James Pethokoukis (P)2023 Center Street

Critic reviews

"Nothing is more confusing than the role of tech and innovation in our world. For years I have sought a guidebook to sort the good from the bad, and see how ingenuity can help take us to a better future. The Conservative Futurist is that book. This is a must read for all of us."—Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

"It is a splendid paradox: American conservatism aims to conserve an open society that enables perpetual social dynamism. James Pethokoukis has peered over the horizon and discerned a future that works, a future of constant churning that displaces stale hierarchies and dissolves pessimism about society's prospects."—George F. Will, Columnist, The Washington Post; commentator NBC News and MSNBC, author of The Conservative Sensibility

Optimism begets advancement

What sort of world would we have if optimistic voices championing scientific and technological advancement outweighed the pessimistic dystopian visions depicted in media since the 1970s? That's what James Pethokoukis explores in his book The Conservative Futurist. The title sounds like an oxymoron since conservatives tend to be more resistant to change. Still, Pethokoukis outlines why innovation and technological advancement can help solve some of the challenges we face today, like climate change, income inequality, and housing. He argues that the rate of productivity output has stalled since the 1970s. Pessimistic views of technology in pop culture, strangling government regulation, and the rise of Neo-luddites are reasons why we've been in this stall since the 1970s. New technology needs enough breathing room to work out problems and refine them. Still, out of fear, the current regulatory environment binds these recent technological advancements to move forward at much slower speeds than we've seen previously in human history. One example he uses to highlight this argument is advancements in commercial supersonic flight being quashed due to FAA regulations preventing sonic booms over population centers. It may have helped "solve" the problem but also killed off commercial supersonic flight. He then goes through a "what if" scenario where the regulatory environment wasn't so restrictive to strangle that innovation. I enjoyed this book, and I think it can help be a shot in the arm to encourage optimism around new scientific and technological advancement.

The bracing optimism we need

Excellent, thought provoking, and genuinely inspirational. Hats off to Mr. P for writing the book I didn’t know I needed.

Great argument for a more optimistic future

Pethokoukis gives an excellent description of the necessity of technological progress, the threats it faces, and how to overcome them. Amid the smart and persuasive explanations of the relevant economics, politics, and science, he weaves in many fun and relevant references to pop culture - many of our favorite books, movies, and TV shows of the last 100 years. Highly recommended!

well-researched and interesting point of view

I agree with the author's basic and well-argued take that we should take more risks as a society and be more oriented to growth. But, in my opinion, he takes that argument too far.

much needed reframing of political discourse

much needed techno optimist take on the future. marrying the seemingly opposite values of futurism and conservatism. must read!
E/Acc certified banger.

Don't let the title fool you

Don't let the title fool you (as it did me), this is not a conservative book. In the second to final chapter, the author reveals his truth - Biden and the Dems have the best plan. The only reason their plan hasn't yet worked is because other forces keep getting in their way. Leading up to that chapter, the author does identify many of the problems conservatives want solved. There's a few hints of progressivism along the way, but he pulls off his conservative mask towards the end. Too bad though because the problems he identifies are true problems and real solutions need to be found. But entrenched politicians and their DC machines are not the answer.