Naomi Klein on the Billionaires Who Dream of Gated Paradise
In a new book co-written with Astra Taylor, the Canadian writer and activist argues that extreme wealth breeds a supremacist mindset, using a scene from Davos as her starting point.
Naomi Klein's new book, End Times Fascism, co-written with Astra Taylor, opens on a mountaintop in Davos, Switzerland, where two men describe a vision of a gated paradise city, according to an interview published by The Guardian. The men are named as Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and the scene is set in 2026 at the World Economic Forum. The paradise city they describe is called New Gaza, one of them reportedly moved to tears as he speaks of its beauty.
The Guardian frames the scene as emblematic of what the Davos gathering has become: a stage where the ultra-rich once used to present their philanthropy on poverty and climate, but where, this year, the world's wealthiest men were seen discussing real estate possibilities on what the article describes as a mass grave.
Klein, known for books such as No Logo and The Shock Doctrine, tells the Guardian that extreme wealth has what she calls a deranging effect, turning those who possess it into supremacists. The interview does not detail further arguments from the book beyond this opening scene and Klein's framing of billionaire psychology, and no French publication or translation of End Times Fascism is mentioned in the source material.
The book is presented as a continuation of Klein's long-running examination of neoliberalism and, more recently, the digital world, now turned toward tech billionaires and their pursuit of power amid climate and financial upheaval, per the Guardian's summary.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
