In the middle of the 20th century, a strange and powerful idea took root in the minds of those who governed the world. They believed they could control the future, that the world could be modelled, managed, and predicted like a machine. This was the beginning of an era of certainty — or at least, an illusion of it.*
The story begins in the aftermath of World War II, when governments, shaken by the horrors of total war, sought to create a new global order. They turned to systems — economics, technology, psychology — to tame the chaos that had unleashed so much destruction. New bureaucracies were born. Giant computers, filling rooms like fortresses, began to hum with the data of millions of lives.*
But what they didn’t understand was that the systems they built were fragile. Behind the facade of order, there was a growing unease, a sense that something had been lost. The more the elites tried to control, the more unpredictable the world became.*
In America, a new consumer utopia was constructed. Television, advertising, and mass production promised to fulfil every desire. People were told that happiness could be bought, that freedom was choosing what to consume. But beneath the surface, a darker truth emerged. The more freedom people were given, the more isolated and powerless they felt.*
In Britain, a different story was unfolding. The empire had crumbled, and the old class structures that once held the country together were beginning to fall apart. The politicians promised a bright future, but the industrial heart of the nation was rusting away. Yet no one seemed to notice. The spectacle of modern life had blinded them.*
As the decades passed, new technologies emerged. The internet, once a tool for military command, became a place of escape. It promised to connect people, to create a new global community. But instead, it became a mirror, reflecting our anxieties and desires. The algorithms that govern our lives today were created to predict human behaviour — but they have instead deepened our divisions.*
We are now living in a world where those who hold power no longer believe in grand visions. The promise of control has crumbled, and what remains is a system that sustains itself through chaos and confusion. But behind it all, hidden in plain sight, are the forces that have always shaped our lives. Money, power, and fear.
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