Keen On

In today’s THAT WAS THE WEEK tech newsletter, Keith Teare asks what “civilization” is good for. Triggered by David Brooks’ “We Can Achieve Great Things” NYTimes piece, Keith’s editorial this week focuses on how we can “earn” the future through constant innovation. The problem - as everyone from Keith Teare to David Brooks to KeenOnAmerica guest Yoni Appelbaum all acknowledge - is that America has become stuck in camps, routines and ideologies. So how to unstick America? How to reestablish belief once again in the future?Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Here are the 5 Keen On America take-aways from my conversation this week with Keith Teare:* Civilization and Technology: Keith argues that civilization is deeply interconnected with technological progress, suggesting that innovation has historically enabled human advancement and that government's role should naturally diminish as abundance increases.* David B