A Brief History of the Future sounds more like a science fiction book but from the 70s.
It’s a book released in 2006 written by an economist, Jacques Attali, who – in my personal opinion – lacks a strong vision of the future. It gives me the feeling that it was written during the cold war.
Anyway, the book is read with great pleasure, especially the first part about the past, a historical bird’s eye view of the several cities that have made the global market great, the author calls them “Hearts”, the hearts of capitalism.
After Los Angeles, the last “heart” at the end of this part, the book moves on to the future, becoming more complicated.
As I said, the book seems to see the world from within the Cold War, so some ideas are rigid and sometimes not so attractive in their speculations.
The first future possible is a dystopian moment where the market will lead, due to its selfishness, towards total war and then the end of humanity.
But there is also an optimistic possible future – the author’s dream. Where there will be a so-called “hyperdemocracy”. Same democracy but global. The so-called “transhuman” will lead this new entity. They are better human beings who live only for the good of humanity without wanting anything in return.
An example? Melinda Gates (yes, the author puts Melinda Gates and Mother Teresa of Calcutta within the same sentence – I wondered if he could also put Bill Gates and St. Francis as male examples, but he didn’t).
Those better humans, charitable and full of love, will give everyone, by right, what it takes to be happy. In a nutshell, people will decide what happiness is and how it will be achieved, making it a standard for all humanity.
Is this should be a dream?
The author talks also about the loneliness that takes all of us always connected but always alone. Loneliness is one of the side effects of the market. In a paradoxical situation, it will grow by attempting to reduce it, for example, with entertainment.
Undoubtedly, entertainment is a form of solitude (well, the book is too), and if overused, it generates social detachment. It is the social detachment that create problem in the wealthiest societies.
The problem is beyond my ability even to try to find a solution.
However, the book, in its attempt to generate a solution to all the world’s problems with a single great universal tool, leaves a lot of room to advance personal ideas on how things might work out.
Indeed, don’t read it to get answers; usually, books should give you questions. And this one is very effective in push you to formulate your unique speculations about the future.
