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The tale is simple and told in just two acts. In the first act these men and women rise from humble beginnings to amass inordinate amounts of wealth, power, and influence over society.
Their second act begins
when they are reborn as philanthropists whose only purpose in life
is to save the planet.
Variations of it apply to the likes of,
Joining their ranks is entrepreneur and former CEO of e-commerce at Walmart, Marc Lore.
His first act is just like those of the other beneficent billionaires. Lore was just a normal kid from Staten Island who would go on to found and then sell several successful companies which already amassed him an enormous fortune before joining Walmart.
His second act is only just beginning. It was only this past January that Lore stepped down from his role at Walmart.
In an interview given at the time he stated that he was moving on from the retail giant to commit himself to,
That city has now been given a name,
Details of Lore's plans to build the city and notions of what life in Telosa will look like are still relatively scarce. What is known is that over the next 40 years Telosa will grow to cover 150,000 acres and be home to 5 million people.
This is approximately the size of Chicago with double the population.
The first phase of construction, which would accommodate 50,000 residents across 1,500 acres, comes with an estimated cost of $25 billion and will be ready by '2030'... (where have we seen that year before...?)
The whole project would be expected to exceed $400 billion.
Where the city will be built has yet to be determined but the project's planners are eyeing the American desert. With states like Nevada welcoming plans for technocratic cities like Telosa by passing favorable legislature this is one obvious choice.
The city's website is filled with buzzwords and marketing slogans meant to portray the plan as being for the betterment of mankind.
Potential residents are told they can look forward to a city that,
Words like "sustainable," "equitable," and "inclusive" are sprinkled throughout for good measure...
Many can already see past the slick veneer of the website and smooth marketing talking points, calling the idea for such city a greenwashed Vegas, the creation of which seems either impossible or simply disingenuous.
To ridicule this planned city is a great start but,
We won't cover every detail but let's scroll through the site and take a look at some of the highlights.
In Telosa, you will live where you work and you are always connected to nature.
The women in the photos showcasing this lifestyle are both wearing virtual reality headsets signaling that wearable Internet of Bodies (IoB) devices will be key to working and connecting in the city. The trade-off could be the total end of bodily autonomy.
With fossil fuel cars banned the only way to get around will be autonomous vehicles.
Despite the promise of open, fair, and inclusive governance,
The city planners promise that every student will have access to the best teachers and resources.
Yet, students are shown interacting with ipads rather than human beings. There is talk of "comprehensive training and skills upgrading programs" to continue education but the woman shown participating in said programs is wearing a virtual reality headset once again.
This sounds much more like the "pay for success" model of education where investors shape curriculums and outcomes that researcher, Julianne Romanello warns about rather than a classical education meant to expand the mind.
And there certainly doesn't appear to be much human-to-human interaction in Telosa.
How do the planners Telosa plan to address the healthcare needs of its citizens?
The stock image they chose to show alongside this slide is unsurprisingly a smartphone app showing the user's "Heath Score."
One can only assume that this comes as part of whatever vaccine passport scheme would be rolled out in the city. The onlooker here is once again left wondering how much of life exists only through screens and virtual reality.
People of all incomes and backgrounds will have a diverse selection of housing to choose from. Images showcasing housing options in Telosa range from magnificent skyscrapers to ticky tacky suburbs to container pods.
How this is any different from today's world where the rich and powerful live in opulence compared to the bulk of society is not discussed.
One of the biggest promises made by the planners of Telosa is government accountability.
All city meetings are open and accessible so citizens can easily and effectively participate in the decision making and budgeting process.
But,
The care of the environment is a top priority in Telosa.
The promise of,
With the city planners controlling the use of all natural resources,
These and many other questions about how Telosa will actually function need answers.
More investigation into Marc Lore and his connections are also needed. For now however, we know enough to see a pattern unfolding where the beneficent billionaire is trying to come in and save the day.
We know that these people have no love in their hearts for the masses.
Why should we expect anything different this time...?
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