‘The book explores forces that are currently distorting and reshaping politics and human interactions, as well as the role that the state, people and capital play in this evolving drama. I describe it as an era of declining marginal pricing power and utility of humans and conventional capital – a world of much greater scalability, and a world where contribution of humans towards conventionally measured productivity is diminishing. It is a world where we can alter not only our genome but also modify and engineer our behavior. It is a world of narrative and uncertain truth, perfectly suited to Orwell’s 1984. As people and countries move in different directions and at different speeds, the rise of populists and demagogues might prove to be unstoppable, and their policies will continue to aggravate social and geopolitical pressures that might be impossible to contain.’
