Bob Schwartz

We are in a three-crisis era. First Trump, then Covid, then AI.

Decades ago, we also experienced a three-crisis era. First the Great Depression, then World War II, then the atomic bomb.

These eras, then and now, had and have the potential for transformation, or exploitation, or failure.

The earlier set of crises were met with historic response and intervention. That era covered about twenty years. The Depression was met with changes in economic security that led to the growth of a prosperous middle class. The evillest military power in modern times was met by a costly and victorious show of force. A world-destroying weapon was countered by the first lasting global organization, one that has kept us from world war for eighty years.

We were unprepared in the past, in part because the crises were unprecedented. We met the moment. Maybe not perfectly, but we responded well.

It does not appear we have been well prepared for the three crises now, which so far cover about ten years. Just like then, these crises are unprecedented, a word we seem to use a lot these days.

Are we different than the people and institutions then? When we find a way to respond and intervene as beneficially as they did, will we create another unprecedented era of relative peace and prosperity, not just for some, but for many, if not for all?

We did it before. We can do it again.

© 2026 Bob Schwartz