“A bit like the Soviet elites in the 1980s,” writes Harari, “liberals don’t understand how history deviates from its preordained course, and they lack an alternative prism through which to interpret reality.” The author certainly understands, and in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly “post-truth” world is headed. They promote jingoism over international cooperation, vilify the opposition, demonize immigrants and rival nations, and then win elections. The liberal story-think democracy, free markets, and globalism-reigned supreme for a decade until the 20th-century nasties-dictators, populists, and nationalists-came back in style. World War II eliminated the fascist story but stimulated communism for a few decades until its collapse. Every person, group, and nation has its own tales and myths.” Three grand stories once predicted the future. As the author emphasizes, “humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today’s myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. Having produced an international bestseller about human origins ( Sapiens, 2015, etc.) and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny ( Homo Deus, 2017), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ.
A highly instructive exploration of “current affairs and…the immediate future of human societies.”
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