A strange rambling interview with technology futurist Vinay Gupta in Vice from some time ago. Some quotes send shivers down my spine…
What I wanted was control of a substantial piece of planetary infrastructure. And then I wanted to tax people for access to that infrastructure […] I wanted it to generate enough wealth that I could go and privately finance climate mitigation work.
Individual control of privately owned global infrastructure? Private ‘solutions’ for collective issues like climate change? No thank you.
…when it comes to hundreds of millions of people needing housing, you just can’t get there in a commercial context.
So the stated goal is to generate enough money to build two experimental cities, one of which is expected to fail and the second, it is hoped, will succeed […] we hope to figure out pretty much everything we need to rehouse hundreds of millions of people efficiently.
Blank slate urbanism? Efficiency discourse? Complete disregard for casualties and collateral damage of techno-utopianismand delusional grandeur? Please don’t.
…you’re still talking about setting up something like 10 or 20 new Londons. […] the technology platforms necessary for building dozens of new gigantic cities do exist. It’s actually entirely possible that we can do that.
Eurocentric visions of urban futures? Technology platforms as the backbone for new urban developments? “Can-do” mentality simplifications of complex matters? Come on.
And it goes on and on. Blockchain? Yes of course, blockchain too.