Venice Future (?)

Year 2040
This message has reached us from the future. The most plausible explanation is that the message may have been sent from a quantum computer. Probably it was just a technical mistake or destiny… we don't know… in any case, this email was sent on July 12th, 2040 at 11.45.
Dear Luca,
I haven't heard from you for months, so I thought I could send you a q-mail for your grand-daughter to read it, as she's writing a dissertation on the role of Venice in recent history.
Venice is always the same: all sorts of tourists, academics, conferences, spiritual retreats...
The magic of this city always takes me by surprise, especially at night, when I go back home and find myself walking on its streets alone, accompanied only by the sound of my own steps. The sibilant tyres of Milan do not exist here. Everything is still on a human scale.
Luca, I hear tomorrow is your big day: the medical conference you have been working at for three months will conclude.
That's why I'm writing: I know you'll be finished in Milan at 3 p.m. Why don't we meet in Riva degli Schiavoni?
I've rented a cabin in Lido San Marco. If you take the H-underground at 4 p.m. you should be able to be here at about 4.30... just in time for a plunge in the lagoon and a "spritz". Remember the day will be concluded at 5 with the dolphins show, so don't be late!
The Cini foundation have asked me to prepare an essay on "Marketing in the 20th and 21st centuries: new social symbols and changes".
They intend to exhibit the photos, videos and holograms of the most important image campaigns over the last 50 years.
However I have a doubt: in theory marketing acts like an ear, it listens to people's desires and turns them into messages to sell products.
Can large companies modify consumers' requirements through campaigns?

It reminds me of the great bluff we experienced in the early '90s, when large international companies were trying to replace quality with packaging, and prided themselves of "creating the market".

But consumers disagreed and... bang!

The consequences were much more serious than the expected collapse of dot-com companies...

Venice became the symbol of the new economic renaissance. Perhaps it is fate itself that wants this city as the hub of world trade... there are things that never change.

Anyway, I intend to suggest the Cini foundation they should change the conference title into "The technological society of the 20th and 21st centuries: the marketing that accompanied change". What do you think?

Remember when, during the crisis, Venice became the most studied city in the world?
We were asked to explain why we hadn't been affected by the economic slump that was crippling the rest of the world. We suggested "the great experts of trade development" that they contacted Antonio Vianello known as "Tony Vianeo".

I still burst into tears whenever I recall Tony taking the floor in front of all the UN Economics Ministers and saying in the Venetian dialect: "Mi no go ancora capio perché me gavè ciamà, comunque mi vendo a tutti basta che i me paga subito" (I haven't understood the reason why I've been called yet, anyway, I'm ready to deal with whoever pays me promptly).

It reminds me of the great bluff we experienced in the early '90s, when large international companies were trying to replace quality with packaging, and prided themselves of "creating the market".

But consumers disagreed and... bang!

The consequences were much more serious than the expected collapse of dot-com companies...

Venice became the symbol of the new economic renaissance. Perhaps it is fate itself that wants this city as the hub of world trade... there are things that never change.

Anyway, I intend to suggest the Cini foundation they should change the conference title into "The technological society of the 20th and 21st centuries: the marketing that accompanied change". What do you think?

Remember when, during the crisis, Venice became the most studied city in the world?
We were asked to explain why we hadn't been affected by the economic slump that was crippling the rest of the world. We suggested "the great experts of trade development" that they contacted Antonio Vianello known as "Tony Vianeo".

I still burst into tears whenever I recall Tony taking the floor in front of all the UN Economics Ministers and saying in the Venetian dialect: "Mi no go ancora capio perché me gavè ciamà, comunque mi vendo a tutti basta che i me paga subito" (I haven't understood the reason why I've been called yet, anyway, I'm ready to deal with whoever pays me promptly).

The Venetian people once again taught everybody a lesson and their natural style became the cornerstone of the "Real New Economy": more open markets, cash payments (or in commodities), bilateral relations with Eastern markets, and development of micro-firms providing craftswork or services.

Venice became the hub of the world handicraft: glass, masks, cookies, costumes of other periods… and an authentic racial integration.

Indeed, after a period of just two months of work in Venice, any immigrant could say "Mi so Venexian come de ti, vecio mio" (I'm a Venetian just like you, mate) and taught his/her Venetian colleagues how to swear in his/her mother tongue. continues on page 3
Venetians have always been in touch with different cultures, in particular the Arab culture, which influenced their architecture.
It was after the 2017 Global Pax treaty that I decided to come back here. At that time you were busy in Milan and provided me with the references for that huge religious meeting.
Who would have imagined that the solution to the tensions between Islam and the West would be found by Sufi mystics? One thing is sure: when the sheiks of the most important Arab families arrived, I realized what it really means to be rich. Yet each of them went out of his way for the Sufis, those simple but powerful people.
The Sufi mystics gathered, met the Christian representatives (Catholics, Protestants, etc.), and then the Jewish ones. All three religions proclaimed "the Single God" and the anathema: Every man is our brother, so harming a person means harming one's brother. He who harms his brother will be damned.
The three factions joined the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Janists and the other religious delegations, and together they proclaimed "the Single God" and the prayer of peace and love among men of all states.
The proclamation was pronounced by all the religious representatives in every language, it was then set to music thus becoming the sacred song that in few months spread all over the world.
International terrorism lost its mystic-religious significance and the kamikazes who up to that moment had spoiled the first years of the 21st century, stopped. In this regard the world became a far better place.
Venice greatly benefited from the Arab emirates, as they fell in love with the city and decided to help it by realizing the most important undertaking made by man till then.
That's why I decided to buy a flat here: ground floor flats prices dropped because Venice seemed to have no more chances to survive (Moses, the sort of dam built to keep tides back, was no longer enough).
But I got to know in advance that a real dam would be built all around the lagoon. Extremely powerful purifiers were set up to oxygenate and clean the water. The sediments built up in almost two centuries of pollution were removed through intensive digging.
As a consequence, after about 15 years of uninterrupted purification activities, Venice turned into the largest and most beautiful "natural" pool in the world. Soon after, the baths in front of S. Mark's square were reopened (like at the end of the 19th century) and acquatic animals that had been born in captivity and could no longer survive in the open sea were introduced, as they could now count on several miles of protected sea there.
Here are a couple of images I've picked from my brain circuit, so that you have an idea of how beautiful the weather is today.
See you tomorrow. Love, Ron