The end of reality : how four billionaires are selling a fantasy future of the metaverse, mars, and crypto
(2023)

Nonfiction

Book

Call Numbers:
NEW JOBS-MONEY

Availability

Locations Call Number Status
New & Popular Jobs-Money NEW JOBS-MONEY Available

Details

PUBLISHED
New York : PublicAffairs, 2023
EDITION
First edition
DESCRIPTION

322 pages ; 25 cm

ISBN/ISSN
9781541703155, 1541703154 :, 1541703154, 9781541703155
LANGUAGE
English
NOTES

"At a time when the crises of income inequality, climate, and democracy, are compounding to create epic wealth disparity and the prospect of a second American civil war, four billionaires are hyping schemes that are designed to divert our attention away from issues that really matter. Each scheme--the metaverse, cryptocurrency, space travel, and transhumanism--is an existential threat in moral, political, and economic terms. In The End of Reality, Jonathan Taplin provides perceptive insight into the personal backgrounds and cultural power of these billionaires--Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreesen ("The Four")--and shows how their tech monopolies have brought middle-class wage stagnation, the hollowing out of many American towns, a radical increase in income inequality, and unbounded public acrimony. Meanwhile, the enormous amount of taxpayer money to be funneled into the dystopian ventures of "The Four", the benefits of which will accrue to billionaires, exacerbate these disturbing trends. The End of Reality is both scathing critique and reform agenda that replaces the warped worldview of The Four with a vision of regenerative economics that seeks to build a sustainable society with healthy growth and full employment"--