Stories

 

Chapter 1 in 21 Lessons for the 21st Century written by Yuval Noah Harari is titled Disillusionment. This chapter begins with three stories.  The first is the fascist story . This story represents the world dominated by one  Aryan human group that violently subdues all others and refers to the enemy or opposition as vermin. The story reached its peak in the second world war and was based on nationalism, racism, hatred,  sadomasochism ,destruction ,control and power. The enemy is all others that do not submit or obey the rule of white supremacy ..

The second story depicted a struggle among different socio-economic classes with the idea that the world  becomes united only within a centralized social system. This system is  based on equality but not  freedom. Then ,the communist story changed  in the late 1980s. However, with Putin  the story that's taking hold again is nationalistic  fascism.  There's major resistance to immigration ;trade agreements ; undermining the independence of the judiciary system;eliminating the freedom of the press; respecting  boundaries; against LGTBQ, and  political  opposition is treason without due process 

There are different , new types of illiberal democracies and outright dictatorships.  For example, Russia is represented by a political practice in which a number of oligarchs monopolize most of the wealth and power. They  then use the control of the media to hide their activities and establish the rules . And,with government control of the media , it prevents citizens from realizing the truth.  Under Putin there is  endemic corruption, malfunctioning services, no rule of law and staggering inequality. Russia is the most unequal country in the world . 87% of wealth is  concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of people

Then, there is the liberal story.  This story represents a struggle between a world of liberty , a world in which all humans cooperate freely ,peacefully with minimum central control but, saly with  inequality.  In this story, freedom,democracy,  educational opportunity, political rights, economic mobility, personal liberties and unrestricted movement of individuals' is permitted although freedom has taken hold, by a slow  step-by-step. Further, liberty has gained ground for  some individuals to overcome economic restrictions.  People learn to think for themselves ,being able to vote , not blindly obeying bigoted clergy ,, social media, political propaganda and lies . Moreover, establishing free markets is necessary to overcome poverty, violence and oppression. In other words, globalization  produces peace and prosperity for all.

Turning to Nationalism which is as old as the history of man. For instance, Islam attracts many that are born under that orientation and follow the one  religion  as in other regimes like India, Poland and Turkey . For instance,the Islamist’s want to recreate the system established by Mohamed in the city of Mecca 1,400 years ago. 

Fundamentalist Jews ,in Israel , think about returning 2,500 years to biblical times.  Members of the ruling coalition of government talk openly about the hope of expanding modern Israeli borders to match closely those of biblical Israel. This would reinstate biblical law and even rebuild the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem in place of the Al aqsa mosque . 

The  novel Chosen by Chaim Potok provides one example of Orthodox thinking and behavior . In the story, Reuven is supposed to follow  in the footsteps of his  Hasidic rabbi father. His father believed that the creation of Israel will and should come  only with the arrival of a  prophet . He was  against the 1948 Israelis fighting for their independence. Reuven has a friend whose father is fighting in support of the fight for Israeli independence.  At one point, Reuven's father prohibits his son from speaking to his friend because of the views of Danny's father.

Turning to “today,” Harari recognizes the disillusionment and the irrelevance facing many .  He pointed to the global financial crisis of 2008 that turned everything upside down ; the 2016 Brexit vote in Britain and the rise of Donald Trump in the United States.  He said many saw the liberal vision as either undesirable and/or unattainable.  There were others that didn’t want to give up the racial, national, and gendered privileges . They were also against  liberalization and globalization . They believed that they were huge rackets empowering only a tiny elite .In other words, the system is rigged. 

 Harari  wrote that Trump falsely warned voters in 2016 that the Mexicans and Chinese would take their jobs and they should build a wall on the Mexican border.  He stated that Trump and Brexit were supported by many people who still enjoyed political power but who feared they were losing their  socio-economic worth.  He added that Trump's main message was that it is not America's job to formulate and promote any global vision whatsoever. And,conveyed  that immigration is a no, no with a fear based threat. He added that Trump  said it was only him that could promote free markets in the US while he would undermine free trade on the global level  Also  ,Trump bragged and sounded the alarm for American isolationism with the promise to make America great again .That message goes back to 1987 when Trump spent almost $100,000 in Newspaper ads promoting how our country was being duped by other countries and we should make them pay for our protecting them which would  then reduce our deficits and result in lower taxes.  

Another theme in this chapter was the rise of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and that this technological disruption was not even a leading item in the political arena.  He also mentioned that Trump never warned voters that algorithms would take their jobs.  Harari  added that  politicians do not fully understand what's coming and that it will disrupt things in so many ways with unintended consequences . He also said that liberalism has no obvious  answers to the biggest problems which are the  ecological collapse and technological disruption . And, that economic growth will not save the global ecosystem because economic growth is the cause of the ecological crisis . In essence, economic growth will not solve technological disruption because it’s predicated on the invention of more and more disruptive technologies.

In 1995 Ted Kkaczynski, the Unabomber, wrote a  provocative treatise titled "Industrial Society and Its Future"  found in The New York Times 3/30/ 2025 . A few related quotes : 1.  Paragraph 173.  If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can't make any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave.  2.  Paragraph 92.  Thus, science marches on blindly without regard to the real welfare of the human race, or to any other standard, obedient only to the psychological needs of the scientist and of the government officials and corporation executives who provide the funds for research.  3. Paragraph 1. Technological advancement since the Industrial Revolution has made life unsettling, led to widespread psychological suffering and inflicted severe damage on the natural world, and think.  4.  Paragraph 156 New technology tends to change society in such a way that it becomes difficult or impossible for any individual to function without using that technology.  5.  Paragraph 174.  Human work will no longer be necessary and the masses will be superfluous.  In essence, society was wrong; you can't get rid of the bad parts of technology, and retain only the good parts and  human existence will be ruled by a system that humans do not control

Is fundamental religion, nationalism  and facism the answer for the future ; a nihilist movement of disillusionment with anger about the future or a humanistic , democratic optimistic  one ?  Add, the reality of AI,big data algorithms and bioengineering  which will affect jobs as the tech evolution might soon push billions of humans out of the job market and create a new “useless" class.”Also, there is another important existential crisis facing the world today.,and perhaps a fourth and  related story .According to  paleontologist  Henry Gee ,we are  approaching  and headed  in the direction of the extinction of our species. Remember,  history  is repetitive ..