Last Gasp in Paris
Writing in Hypervocal in March, Havas Media’s Tom Goodwin opened with a jarring observation. “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles,” he wrote. “Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.” The old ways that are not already dead are dying. Those organisms that thrived in a bygone period must evolve or go extinct. But rather than go gentle, those who were for so long coddled by a state that insulated them from life’s harsher realities have opted to rage violently in response to their suddenly suboptimal circumstances.