The year was 1974 and, I still remember it, on a splendid late October-early November Saturday afternoon I found myself strolling with my family along the legendary “Via Veneto” in Rome. I do not know if it still exists, but at the time there was a large newsstand almost exactly where the street of the “Dolce Vita” forks with Via Bissolati, opposite the American Embassy. Well, there I begged my father to buy me an extra comic book, compared to the normal weekly issues of “Mickey Mouse”, of which I was an avid reader: it was a “Golden Edition”, with the fascinating title of “Mickey Mouse and the wonders of tomorrow”. What child could have resisted the mystery hidden behind such a captivating title? Very few, and certainly not me. I finally convinced my father to yield and I took possession of that illustrated comic book (moreover, of an unusual shape compared to the “normal” Mickey Mouse comics, because it was wide and short in height). The story (Mickey Mouse – The World of Tomorrow), a fact I was unaware of at the time, had been written for the US version by Bill Walsh, while Floyd Gottfredson had done the drawings and Dick Moores the inking, all way back in 1944. The plot of the comic saw Mickey receiving a mysterious parcel in the post containing invisible clothes which, once put on, would show him the beauties of the world of the future. Thinking it was a present from his scientist friends, Mickey entered the “new world” together with Pluto, finding a hyper-technological Earth that had tamed every last remnant of wild nature. Nominally, crime no longer existed, but mysterious mechanical men kidnapped Minnie. Setting off in search of her alongside the eccentric Inspector Gluesome, Mickey arrived in the hidden valley of Mekkakia, where Peg-Leg Pete had some time earlier exploited a scientist to assemble an initial fringe of self-building robots with which to conquer the planet (a result achievable also thanks to the aid of a swarm of robots with human features that were supposed to quietly take the place of their respective human counterparts). In Mekkakia, in addition to a splendid robot-woman (Mimi) who fell in love with Mickey, a perfect replicant of the round-eared mouse was already prepared… The story continues, but it would be too long to summarise it all. In the end, it will not be clear whether it was a real journey or a nightmare caused to Mickey by the bump on his head given to him by his nephew Morty’s mechanical man. All this long preamble is not only to recall a minor masterpiece for children (and beyond), but above all to have a starting point to talk about the wonders of our “tomorrow”, which in reality is already a sad “today”.

The new “Peg-Leg Petes”

In Walsh’s story, the attempt by the villain Peg-Leg Pete was to replace humanity with human-looking robots (many others in literature and cinema have hypothesised this eventuality), whereas today what is looming on the horizon is the integration of man with machine, as in the nightmares of the worst (or best, depending on one’s point of view) science fiction dedicated to so-called transhumanism. I would rather call it a dehumanisation of the human being in the name, at least this is how this transformation is sold, of scientific progress and convenience in the social and economic sphere. By now, people speak openly of a “fusion” of man and machine, but obviously for the beneficial purpose of preventing illnesses or forestalling tendencies inherent in our physical and mental development. One of the greatest advocates of this “new world of wonders” is Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian and essayist, and advisor to Klaus Schwab. Our guy, among other things, forecasts a world where human beings will have to be hacked. In 2020, during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said: “If you know enough biology and have enough computing power and data, you can hack my body and my brain and my life, and you can understand me better than I understand myself. You can know my personality type, my political views, my sexual preferences, my mental weaknesses, my deepest fears and hopes. You know more about me than I know about myself. And you can do that not just to me, but to everyone. …A system that understands us better than we understand ourselves can predict our feelings and decisions, can manipulate our feelings and decisions, and can ultimately make decisions for us. …Now in the past, many governments and tyrants wanted to do it, but nobody understood biology well enough and nobody had enough computing power and data to hack millions of people. Neither the Gestapo nor the KGB could do it. But soon at least some corporations and governments will be able to systematically hack all the people. We humans should get used to the idea that we are no longer mysterious souls – we are now hackable animals”*. “We are now hackable animals”… In fact, the road towards this type of vulnerability has been taken for quite some time. Noble foundations, such as the Rockefeller one, had already committed themselves to imagining our future in this sense. Since then, there have been multiple instances of this kind of development. To give an example, Sweden, a well-known country for social experimentation (oh yes, we are not the only ones in Europe), had (in 2018, to be precise) introduced the “convenient” practice of a subcutaneous microchip whose task would be to save one the tedious operation of opening a door by touching the infected (post “pandemic”) door handles, or sparing shop customers from having to handle contagious and dirty money. But, news of these days, we have now reached a new masterpiece in this direction. The trial is no longer free, but is being charged to those undergoing it. Do you want this enormous convenience of offering your wrist to enter the house? Then pay 200 euros (or rather, 199 to be precise). But it goes up to 350 with the operation necessary for the implant, as the enthusiastic grand Italian newspaper from Via Solferino explains to us. I imagine there are many Italiots (and non-Italiots) who will be enthusiastic about joining this wonderful initiative.

The numerous wonders of “tomorrow”

But the wonders of tomorrow are myriad, in Italialand and elsewhere. Well known by now is the story of the over 30 bio-engineering laboratories financed by the Americans (and not only) in Ukraine by Metabiota, one of the Pentagon’s contractors (I have spoken about this elsewhere). What our fellow countrymen probably do not know is that there are also laboratories of this kind on our own national territory. One was transferred from Cairo to Sigonella (as reported by Franco Fracassi), and one, hear hear, is in Trieste, a city with a Central European charisma. An interesting document, regarding this latter laboratory, is the Official Gazette published on the 15th of June last. The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) was in fact made the object of special “attention” by the Government, granting it privileges that for a private company are unusual to say the least. As we read on their website, “ICGEB is a unique intergovernmental organisation, initially created as a special project of UNIDO. Autonomous since 1994, it manages over 45 state-of-the-art laboratories in Trieste, Italy, New Delhi, India and Cape Town, South Africa, and forms an interactive network with nearly 70 Member States, with operations aligned with those of the United Nations System. It plays a key role in biotechnology by promoting research excellence, training and technology transfer to industry, to contribute in concrete terms to sustainable global development.” Here is the magic word: “sustainable”. A simple adjective that is now used like parsley. It goes well everywhere. Everything becomes more beautiful when apostrophised with this word. It gives an idea of green (as those who are “avant-garde” like to say), fresh, clean. Virgil, in the Aeneid, has Laocoön utter the famous phrase “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” (I fear the Greeks, even when bearing gifts). Well, the comparison seems appropriate to me; one must be wary of anyone who uses words like “sustainable” or “resilient”. In the case in point, one only needs to glance at who the ICGEB’s corporate partners are. Among others we find “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”, “The National Institutes of Health” (NIH), “New England Biolabs”, various charities, “Sun Pharma”, “EMBO” and the “Joint Research Centre” of the European Commission. Many players who, in various capacities, were also involved in the “pandemic”. Among the things established by law (LAW of 19 May 2022, no. 66 ratifying a previous agreement), the Government has exempted it from all taxes, made its premises inalienable, and granted total immunity to the staff (and their family members). Furthermore, the company can hold accounts in Italy and abroad with different currencies remaining exempt from any taxation. I wonder why? And why is so much prominence given to a private rather than a state company, so much as to even put the privileges it enjoys into a law (thanks to a sleeping Parliament)?

Conclusions

I would like to conclude this digression of mine on today (tomorrow is already present, unfortunately), with another illuminating thought from our Harari who, during an interview given last May, expressed himself thus: “I think the biggest question maybe in economics and politics of the coming decades will be what to do with all these useless people? The problem is more boredom and what to do with them and how will they find some sense of meaning in life, when they are basically meaningless, worthless? My best guess, at present is a combination of drugs and computer games as a solution for most. It is already happening… I think that once you are superfluous, you don’t have power anymore”. And again in another one from September 2021: “If you have enough data and you have enough computing power, you can understand people better than they understand themselves, and then you can manipulate them in ways that were previously impossible, and in such a situation the old democratic systems stop working. We need to reinvent democracy in this new era in which human beings are now hackable animals. The idea that human beings have this “soul” or “spirit” and have free will… is over”. And again: “We don’t have an answer in the Bible as to what to do when human beings are no longer useful to the economy. We need completely new ideologies, completely new religions and it is likely that they will emerge from Silicon Valley… and not from the Middle East. And they will probably give people visions based on technology. Everything that the ancient religions promised: Happiness and justice and even eternal life, but HERE ON EARTH with the help of technology and not after death with the help of some supernatural being”.

Somewhere in my parents’ house I should still have “Mickey Mouse and the wonders of tomorrow”. I must go and look for it, because I do not quite remember how the story ends…