Fuck it, I'm a prophet. I'm going to spout off about the future like I know what I'm talking about. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.

Here's a note to the Pundits and other (self)Important People of the world: your days are numbered. As the network paradigm continues to supplant broadcast-based hierarchy (a revolution that will probably take another 20 to 30 years before we can say anything with historical certanty), the Andy Warhol metric of notoriety is slowly giving way to the David Weinberber rule; everyone's famous for 15 minutes vs. everyone's famous for 15 people. This doesn't mean there aren't Important People out there. It means we don't waste time with the notion that the 10,000 individuals who populate the mass-media ecology are any more intrinsically noteworthy than the rest of us.

I was sitting in my bathroom the other day trying to put my finger on what was to troubling to me about the Personal Democracy Forum. It wasn't just the disorientation that comes from being suddenly in the middle of an idea-space rather than on the edge; and it wasn't just the feeling of being co-opted that comes from people mouthing my message with questionable sincerity; it was the strong elitist vibe that occasionally spiked through the air.

I believe that the coming wave of civilization, if it's to be a positive one rather than a regression (still an open question, I'm afraid), is powered by rennaisance ideals like meritocracy, peaceful ambition and widely distributed opportunity. It is not a world of uniform outcomes or forced equality, but it is a realm where the truth of human potential is realized. Where we recognize and make the most of our abilities; and where those who are momentarily ascendent do not come so much to consider themselves as being in any real way above the rest of us.

Fame doesn't go away, nor does wealth or positions of high power. There will always be leaders and owners and celebrities, but a more open and level playling field invites there to be many more of them, and in turn to render them more civil and connected to the wholeness of the world. In a networked civilization, power is humble, because it cannot be solidified. The only way to retain power is to remain fit. There are many ways to do it, but thinking you're better than anyone ain't one of 'em. The masses aren't asses; they'll factcheck your ass, and 500 of them probably have more original thoughts and better writing than you do, so try not to talk down to them.

So we'll see a breaking of the old system of elites, and likely the creation of many new circles of power. A year or two ago, people talked about the A-list of bloggers, the most fit of the first movers, but now with thousands of writers joining the fray literally every day, they're just one of many centers of social capital. An influential group of individuals, sure, but now somewhat less important as vastly more voices speak up.

Here's an example. An anonymous blogger writes about cable news. He/She writes so well and so insightfully that the word is that it's done by some well-known player in the biz. It's an 18-year-old college freshman. People are surprised, but why? So you really think people in the professional world of 24-hour cable news are that much more eriudite or informed than an above-average 18-year-old? Oh man, rude awakening.

This is going to happen more and more, and I don't mean cheap identity tricks; I mean people are going to have to realize that there are way more talented people than there are famous, and that the balance of power is shifting. Fitness is the future.