December 6, 2010 9:31AM # Welcome to the Future By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) --- SHARE [Chris Cardiff notes](http://rootedinprosperity.com/2010/12/the-art-of-mbm-welcome-to-the-future/) that Brad Paisley has put the libertarian optimism of [Matt Ridley](http://www.rationaloptimist.com/), [Deirdre](http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/253676/needed-economics-grownups-interview) [McCloskey](http://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/10/04/deirdre-mccloskey/bourgeois-dignity-a-revolution-in-rhetoric/) — [and](https://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v29n4/cpr29n4-2.html) [me](http://reason.com/archives/2010/04/06/up-from-slavery) — to music in his new song and video “Welcome to the Future”: > When I was a young boy, I dreamed of having my own [jukebox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jukebox#Aesthetic_style). Jukeboxes always had this huge selection of great songs compared to the few [45 singles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music)) I owned. And you could select whichever songs you liked just by pushing a button instead of waiting for your favorite songs to play on the radio. Of course, in my imagination I owned a standard floor-sized jukebox, not something the size of a credit card that also records video. > > > [Brad Paisley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Paisley) brought back these memories with the opening lyrics of his hit song, “Welcome to the Future.” He dreamed of his own [floor-sized arcade game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man) when he was a boy – now he’s got one on his phone. “Welcome to the Future” starts with a familiar theme: technology-driven product innovation. But Paisley uses the second stanza to segue to the more profound theme of social change. > > > On the surface, the second stanza continues the theme of technological change as it contrasts writing letters to video conferencing. But it is really making a deeper point when you realize his grandfather wrote the letters from his base in the Philippines, where he was [fighting the Japanese during World War II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_death_march). Paisley illustrates the transformative power of economic freedom, when he sings that he “was on a video chat this morning, with a company in Tokyo.” From mortal enemies to [premiere trading partners](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_the_United_States) in a generation. > > > Paisley’s final stanza evokes the most powerful image of social change. The mood changes as all the instruments are stripped away so it’s just Paisley and his guitar. I won’t spoil it for you but I will say that when I first heard this part, it gave me chills. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).