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cover of episode The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World, with Atossa Abrahamian

The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World, with Atossa Abrahamian

2025/2/5
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Atusa Araxia Abrahamian
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Atusa Araxia Abrahamian: 我在日内瓦长大,但我的成长环境与日内瓦的国际社区息息相关,这使我感到与我实际居住的地方有些脱节。我在日内瓦的成长经历塑造了我对地方和身份的认知,促使我写了第一本书,探讨公民身份的全球市场。我对公民身份的传统观念产生了怀疑,因为我在日内瓦的经历让我觉得这些标签与我无关。我发现一些国家公开出售公民身份,这验证了我的预感,即公民身份已经商品化,成为资本主义循环的一部分。我开始思考,如果国家可以出售公民身份,那么它们还可以出售哪些其他独特的“国家商品”?国家可以出售各种“国家商品”,从小小的邮票到法律的访问权,甚至是护照。我在20多岁时读到一篇文章,讲述了瑞士如何通过租赁士兵和提供银行服务等方式,将自己打造成一个“资产阶级的天堂”。瑞士通过提供银行服务和建立免税仓库等方式,服务于外国财富,这成为了其独特的运营模式。

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The episode begins with Atossa Abrahamian's personal experience growing up in Geneva's international community, which influenced her understanding of global wealth and citizenship. She discusses how Geneva's history, shaped by figures like John Calvin and the concept of Swiss neutrality, created a culture of wealth accumulation and secrecy, forming the basis for her exploration of global wealth.
  • Atossa Abrahamian's upbringing in Geneva's international community shaped her perspective.
  • Geneva's history, particularly the influence of John Calvin, fostered a culture of wealth accumulation and secrecy.
  • The Swiss model of neutrality and its role in global finance are examined.

Shownotes Transcript

Atossa Araxia Abrahamian is a journalist and author who writes about the cracks in the nation-state system. A former editor at the Nation and Al Jazeera America, Abrahamian’s reporting and criticism have appeared in the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, the London Review of Books, the Intercept, and many other publications.

In her new book, The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World, Abrahamian maps the hidden geography of the wealthy elite, exposing a parallel universe that transcends national borders, bureaucracy and red tape. From the legal twilight zones of Geneva art warehouses to passports for sale, this is a geography of wealth in the modern age.

Joining her to discuss the book is Adam McCauley, the politics and philosophy writer and researcher.

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