“I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe.” The poor copy of “Blade Runner” impressed us forty years ago with its ships being attacked beyond Orion and its moments that will be lost in time like tears in the rain. It’s true that Riddley Scott’s masterpiece has stood the test of time unscathed, but I’m no longer so sure that Roy Batti’s latest speech has surpassed our capacity for surprise.
Today we have many examples where the same idea can be applied. And I’m not just talking about the wonders and threats posed by Artificial Intelligence or the overwhelming scientific advances across all fields. One example: The Airbnb platform ran an ad – later withdrawn – offering accommodation in “romantic” tents in the living room of a London house. Tents are almost 90 euros per night. If the replicant of “Blade Runner” sees this, it will race back to the future at full speed.
This doesn’t surprise me because inequality is already worse than acid rain. We don’t need to go back to the five richest men on the planet, who doubled their wealth to $869 billion in just three years. In Spain, ten percent of the population controls fifty percent of the wealth; And if we look at it from the other side, the sum of fifty percent of households only reaches eight percent of this wealth. In other words: the richest one percent of Spaniards own almost three times more than half of Spain’s total wealth. If this is a sustainable model, let God – or whoever – come down and see.
The second half of the 20th century, in the wake of two devastating world conflicts and a misnamed Cold War that brought us to the brink of collective suicide, appeared to be heading down the path of a model of rights and freedoms in which equal opportunities would be a central pillar. coexistence. But the neoliberal fire that demonizes taxes and glorifies the law of the jungle threatens to end like the rosary of dawn. And Harrison Ford won’t be there to save us.