This book seems surreal, but it is not unrealistic. Doesn’t its subject matter cover an ultimate dream? That of an absolute freedom of action, without conditions or pressure, of an education centered on creativity and imagination stimulated on all types of screens (television, platforms, apps, etc.), of a development of projects illustrating the most unusual passions without great competition, of fortunes exceeding the GDP of several Western countries thanks to tax optimizations in all legality, of a power defying the States, of a disruptive model of a new world at the antipodes of the current world order.
In a concise and lively style, Christine Kerdellant engages in an audit of the futuristic visions of a handful of influencers who are both billionaires and Americans. Their actions could undermine the very foundations of capitalism. Their common denominator: their vision as a vector of social change with an extra-planetary scope.
Opportunities for humanity or threats to democracy? Their power does not only come from the immensity of their fortune, but for some, from their high-tech activities in a monopolistic situation, and for others, from their dissemination of sensitive data to a fraction of humanity. For the author, this poses a problem of ethics and responsibility of the States. In her book, she arouses the reader’s curiosity in order to warn about the absence of limits and controls of these projects, resulting in a takeover of more than a third of satellites impacting military strategies, the deployment of implants on humans in a medical setting, the exploitation of billions of data for political purposes… These science fiction-passionate dreamers are not far from supplanting the State which, in their opinion, is content to tax them excessively.
Is state control pure fiction? Is the Chinese pattern, where the state takes control of the activities of billionaires, more appropriate? Could the European model, where the state regulates by heavily taxing large fortunes, be an alternative?
Doesn’t American capitalism, which includes the notion of economic freedom, reflect the American dream that offers the opportunity to prosper in complete freedom? Ideally, in all types of models, there should be safeguards (“wise men”).
With a governmental support, the “billionaires stronger than the states” therefore continue to live their American dream.
Christine KERDELLANT is an essayist and economic journalist. She studied economics at the University of Caen and joined HEC. Alongside her career as a journalist, she has written more than fifteen essays and novels.
Chronicle by Pona SAMNIK
