Gaiia by Hares Youssef: Fiction that is turning into reality
In 2020, philanthropist, writer, philosopher and former adviser to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Hares Youssef wrote an essay on a political utopia that may be coming to life now (hopefully, in a positive way).
The novel begins with a dynamic narrative: real names and facts are intertwined with painfully realistic fiction. Sochi, 15th September 2020, 6.15am local time: Russian President Vladimir Putin wakes up replying to an urgent phone call from the defence minister. On the same night an unidentified, luminous cubic object appears on the terrace of the Vorontsov Palace in Yalta, and not a single weapon of the Russian army is able to destroy it. Instead, the object penetrates the backbone of communication networks, seizing control of the entire information space of the country. Putin goes on television with an announcement: if the object does not disappear from the territory of Russia by noon, 45 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads will fall on America and its allies: “Mr Trump, we have 56 minutes to save our civilisation”.
As the story progresses, we realise that the entertaining plot is just a shell for more important content. Gaiia is a kind of literary symbiosis, hardly amenable to genre classification: a tense action develops into a utopia, where the author shares his model of an ideal society dominated by absolute data transparency.
Today Gaiia‘s ideas are taking on a new, more tangible form. Youssef and his team are launching a new digital currency that aims to make charity a transparent and accessible part of the human culture. Gaiia Coin is a personal currency, free from the interests of certain states and nations. Each person not only binds the coin to their name but must choose which charitable organisations will receive funds from the purchase.
Gaiia Coin is backed by gold and based on a communication platform of the same name, which uses its algorithm to analyse users’ profiles and actions. The main principle of this social network is “share more to get more”. Therefore, the more acts of charity one performs, the higher one’s coin will be valued.
Perhaps in a world where information warfare has become the new reality, transparency in social media and money transactions can indeed be an antidote to manipulation and lies. The novel was written in Russian and is currently awaiting publication in English.
The international Gaiia Foundation was established on the initiative of Youssef, for the purpose of creating global projects to address the challenges of the modern-day digital world and to protect mankind from an unpredictable robotised future, as well as initiatives to protect the environment and reform the world financial system
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For further information visit the Gaiia foundation website here.
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