It was a wake-up call to make us see that modern autocracies have evolved and are now far more complicated than ever before. The internet and the wealth that today’s autocrats seek to invest in our countries has also provided them with far more insidious ways of infiltrating and weakening our societies from within than was available to previous generations of dictators.
The new generation is more like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, single-minded determination to preserve their personal wealth and power: "Autocracy, Inc.”
The book is a call to arms, to defend our societies which, as she says pointedly, can be destroyed not just from the outside but “from the inside, too, by division and demagogues”. They can be saved though, if we stand up for liberal democracies. Otherwise, we are on the slippery slope to losing our freedoms.
The celebrated historian and journalist uncovers the networks trying to destroy the democratic world
All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, state-controlled companies in one dictatorship do business with…
Ed Conway examines six materials in the new economy; sand (for concrete), salt (fertiliser), iron (and steel), copper (electrical wires), oil and lithium. He crosses the world to many mines and quarries, as well as the high-tech factories that need what they produce, to drive home an awkward truth. We still live in a material world and rely on drilling machines and explosives to feed it.
He shows the scale of the environmental problem and the irony of new demand created by efforts to wean ourselves off oil and onto batteries. Meanwhile, without copper and fibre optics, “there would be no data centres, no electricity”. He summarises it in the startling statement "that more materials were extracted in 2019 than in all the years to 1950 combined".
The obvious conclusion is that the winners of the future will be the countries that own or control the most mineral assets: they will be able to make the most cars and computer chips at the lowest cost. China’s relentless focus on securing raw materials from Africa through its Belt and Road Initiative has paid off in lithium etc..
The text is compelling, intimate and full of such details that it is no wonder if one wonders whether the book is indeed a literary invention or a historical document. I guess the truth lies somewhere in between. According to the sources, Hadrian did write an autobiography, but it is lost. The Memoirs is indeed a work of fiction, but the result is both a lesson in history, philosophy and politics, as well as a charming encounter with an endlessly fascinating human being.
Apparently, the author - Marguerite Yourcenar, conceived the idea in 1924-25, when she was only 22 years old, only to publish it in 1951. this is the second time that I read it. But no less exciting and energising.
It is a must-read at least once in your life.
Framed as a letter from the Roman Emperor Hadrian to his successor, Marcus Aurelius, Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian is translated from the French by Grace Frick with an introduction by Paul Bailey in Penguin Modern Classics.
In her magnificent novel, Marguerite Yourcenor recreates the life and death of one of the great rulers of the ancient world. The Emperor Hadrian, aware his demise is imminent, writes a long valedictory letter to Marcus Aurelius, his future successor. The Emperor meditates on his past, describing his accession, military triumphs, love of poetry and music, and the philosophy that informed his powerful…
Governments worldwide require every sizeable organisation to publish financial statements, which are the basis for financial decision-making. The one exception to this rule? Governments themselves. This is a problem. Today, most governments focus solely on how much they have borrowed and how their revenues compare with their expenditure. They ignore whether money is going on investment or consumption, what assets or (non-debt) liabilities they have and how to manage them.
Ageing populations and rising healthcare costs – not to mention the costs of combating climate change – will place a much greater strain on government finances. Today’s politicians are postponing hard decisions that will only be tougher for their successors and even less fair to future citizens. This puts democratic institutions and the global economic system at risk.
