The leading lights of the tech revolution – Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk – have been hailed as savants and saviours of the modern age. And yet they are at the forefront of wealth inequality not seen since the heyday of the robber barons in the late 19th century, part of the slide to the World War 1. Today, rampant inequality is inciting social unrest and undermining faith in the institutions of the democratic state. Citizens have been left at the mercy of unfettered capitalism – mere data subjects, endlessly surveilled, marshalled and increasingly angry and polarised.

The decoupling of capitalism from democracy has fostered an economic system seemingly powered by greed alone, with the marginalisation of democratic principles facilitating the rise of authoritarians and populists like Putin, Xi Jinping, Trump and Boris Johnson.

How has it come to this? And does the unanticipated fightback in Ukraine, with support from the West, show us the way to reclaiming the lost spirit of freedom inherent in liberal democracy?

Originally published in South Africa as The Age of Menace in October 2022, Unequal was published in the UK in April 2023 by Ad Lib, with distribution in the US to follow. This is a revised edition of the original book.