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  • The End of Reality

  • How Four Billionaires Are Selling Out Our Future
  • By: Jonathan Taplin
  • Narrated by: Jason Culp
  • Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

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The End of Reality

By: Jonathan Taplin
Narrated by: Jason Culp
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Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

A withering takedown of four billionaires (from Andreessen to Zuckerberg) who are selling us fantasies while the world burns.

At a time when multiple crises are compounding to create epic inequality, four billionaires are hyping schemes that are designed to divert our attention away from issues that really matter. Each scheme - from the metaverse to cryptocurrency, space travel and transhumanism - is an existential threat in moral, political, and economic terms.

In The End of Reality¸ Jonathan Taplin shines a light on the enormous cultural power of Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreessen, questioning whether we want our society to be run by people who don't like to be hugged or receive blood transfusions to stay young. Will we really want our children anywhere near the metaverse? Do we trust Musk to rule over Mars?

Tech monopolies have hollowed out the middle class and brought unbounded public acrimony. Meanwhile, enormous amounts of taxpayer money are funnelled into dystopian ventures, the benefits of which accrue to billionaires. The End of Reality is both a scathing critique of the warped worldview of a tiny minority and a vision of a truly regenerative economics to build a sustainable society with healthy growth and full employment.

©2023 Jonathan Taplin (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

Tech culture has to improve for the sake of humanity, and that's not going to happen without critiques like The End of Reality. (Jaron Lanier, author of Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now)

A wake-up call as to what happens when a society elevates people who don't have the public's best interests in mind. Taplin has a gift for storytelling that turns the bitter pill (reality check) into a fascinating read. (Scott Galloway, bestselling author of Adrift)

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