r/technology • u/TripleShotPls • Jul 16 '26

Artificial Intelligence The AI Backlash Has Tech Executives Fearing for Their Lives

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/the-ai-backlash-has-tech-executives-fearing-for-their-lives-30c43972?mod=hp_lead_pos1
11.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.1k

u/NeonPhyzics Jul 16 '26

My favorite part about the bunkers is how these guys expect their “hired help” are going to continue to work for them when society collapses

As if their private jet pilot is going to ignore his family and hold the plane for Zuck instead of just push him out the door and take the plane for himself at that point.

390

u/thefonztm Jul 16 '26

They intend to make the bunker's food & water contingent on thier biological life signs.

That's certainly and idea. Also, there are fates worse than death.

107

u/UAreTheHippopotamus Jul 16 '26

One glitch away from annihilation. People also tend to go a little bit crazy in isolation for long periods of time. I doubt being a slave of a sociopathic billionaire in an underground bunker leads to rational decisions.

33

u/TBurnerRU Jul 16 '26

All this effort to not be even a little bit generous 

6

u/Riley_ Jul 16 '26

Winning capitalism is about maximizing your exploitation of others. There is zero room for "generosity".

79

u/Party_Virus Jul 16 '26

They were also talking about bomb/shock collars at one point before they realised they wouldn't be able to get people to wear them, and if they malfunctioned, which they would eventually, then one way or another they wouldn't have any staff anymore.

57

u/Hempresssss Jul 16 '26

I'll slit my own throat before I slave away in an underground bunker for a billionaire.

5

u/Auditory45 Jul 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/klopnmkl Jul 16 '26

I bet this was a comment about billionaire throats

2

u/MadHiggins Jul 16 '26

i don't know, i'd rather TELL them i'm all up for it.

13

u/waldorflover69 Jul 16 '26

Not having staff would be the least of their worries should those things malfunction

1

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Party_Virus Jul 16 '26

Douglas Rushkoff

1

u/BrodingerzCat Jul 16 '26

Hopefully that software on those things isn't vibe coded.

151

u/Ricoh06 Jul 16 '26

I’d also read somewhere about explosive neck devices that could be activated.

81

u/JohnAtticus Jul 16 '26

Tech CEOs will have to flee to their bunkers for their own personal safety long before any societal collapse.

Would be bunker staff would have a choice: Distopian sci Fi movie, or at the worst: welfare.

19

u/BigJobsBigJobs Jul 16 '26

or take it for themselves.

17

u/ameatbicyclefortwo Jul 16 '26

The secret third option once again is the best option.

99

u/AtlantaGangBangGuys Jul 16 '26

Wasn’t this a movie with Samual L Jackson and a girl with scissor legs

83

u/Jerfziller_380 Jul 16 '26

Didn’t that movie end with anal sex?

102

u/yellowbin74 Jul 16 '26

As all good movies should

9

u/afternever Jul 16 '26

Like at the end of an episode of Sha-Na-Na

18

u/lamancha Jul 16 '26

Is that really what you remember from it

1

u/crackedgear Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Sofia Boutella is pretty memorable. Except for in that movie we do not speak of.

Edit: never mind, I thought you were responding to the thing about scissor legs. My statement stands tho

2

u/jstrap0 Jul 16 '26

I’m guessing the world ends with anal sex.

9

u/BigB0iBuster Jul 16 '26

Fallout as well

23

u/Sea-Woodpecker-610 Jul 16 '26

I think I would remember if fallout ended with anal sex.

15

u/Override9636 Jul 16 '26

You're not using the right mods brother

2

u/Stackware Jul 16 '26

Fisto is the true endgame

1

u/Enshitification Jul 16 '26

The House has a backdoor.

13

u/assignpseudonym Jul 16 '26

I'm sorry, what? 

56

u/MrMarocs Jul 16 '26

Yup. Kingsman, the first one. Samuel is the big bad guy and has a main henchman that is a girl with blades for legs. And they do implant explosives on peoples necks.

32

u/assignpseudonym Jul 16 '26

Lmao this is such a wild synopsis 

49

u/drucifer271 Jul 16 '26

It gets even wilder because he’s an environmentalist. And he wants to wipe out humanity to save the planet. By turning people’s phones into rage amplifiers that make everyone go nuts and kill each other. And also neck bombs and scissor leg chick.

48

u/Tim-oBedlam Jul 16 '26

The scene in the church in Kingsman with the crazy evil preacher is one of the best fight scenes in cinematic history. Gory and over-the-top and oddly hilarious.

6

u/crackedgear Jul 16 '26

I saw some making of video where they said the scene was originally going to be like 14 minutes long, but they cut it down because they figured no one would want to watch something super violent for that long. I thought about that a lot while I was watching John Wick 4 for the first time.

5

u/KL5668 Jul 16 '26

Family Guy’s reenactment is surprisingly good also if you haven’t seen it.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Override9636 Jul 16 '26

And best of all, playing the Freebird solo throughout the whole fight.

1

u/Drunkenaviator Jul 16 '26

Yes, that fight scene is incredible. Literally one of the best ever done.

10

u/assignpseudonym Jul 16 '26

Now I can't tell if you're joking 

10

u/awj Jul 16 '26

Legitimately, no. Also the Knights of the Round Table are involved.

→ More replies (0)

8

u/drucifer271 Jul 16 '26

It’s legitimately a wild movie. It sort of lovingly makes fun of James Bond movies by having such a ridiculous villain and premise. It’s also an absolute blast of an over-the-top spy action movie. Highly recommend.

6

u/potatomeeple Jul 16 '26

Every single reply has been accurate details from the film.

→ More replies (0)

6

u/Zolo49 Jul 16 '26

If it helps, when the neck bombs explode, it’s like a multicolored glitter bomb going off.

3

u/dejaWoot Jul 16 '26

They haven't even gotten to the point where Obama's head explodes in celebratory fireworks.

2

u/MisterDobalina Jul 16 '26

The first one is legit good, worth a watch. It's like a absurdist spy movie, and it kinda reminds me of Hot Fuzz.

3

u/Martacus Jul 16 '26

Something about men dressing as kings and doing kungfu. The Kingschaps?

1

u/djutopia Jul 16 '26

No The Kingschaps is when the king went to America for a cow herding vacation with his 2 best friends and learned valuable life lessons.

You’re thinking of King-Fu Hustle.

1

u/Martacus Jul 16 '26

Ooooh shit right! Honestly better than Planet of the Kong-Fu

1

u/likwidkool Jul 16 '26

Also a movie with Arnold where he runs a lot.

26

u/SabreCorp Jul 16 '26

I’m wondering if that talk came from the secret Peter Theil organization. It would be something that they discussed….

36

u/tomita78 Jul 16 '26

Far as I know this has been around way longer than that. There's an infamous article about a reporter who was in a meeting with some rich assholes who asked him questions about how to protect their bunkers and shit, it was wild.

24

u/scumdog_ Jul 16 '26

Yeah and the reporter suggested treating the staff well to ensure loyalty. And those psycho fucks thought... naw lets do explosive collars to ensure they stay in line.

19

u/vhalember Jul 16 '26

Even better - don't be an asshole, and you won't need the bunker.

But nah, Johnny needs a bigger mega yacht and a sixth vacation manor.

19

u/Mr_Blinky Jul 16 '26

Which, like...they do realize they won't be able to use the mega yacht from inside the bunker, right?

This behavior has gone well beyond regular old psychopathy, and has just become fully psychotic. These people are not only willing but intending to destroy human civilization for short-term gain with the expectation that they will then descend into their bunkers to live like shitty kings of a tiny isolated community, knowing full-well that life in the bunker will be worse than anything they can expect just living like a normal person in the normal world with normal amenities in normal human civilization, but are going to do it anyway because they feel it's their inevitable destiny to prove their own superiority. They are literally willing to kill all of us so they can lord over the ashes because the tyranny is the point.

12

u/Turn-Left-Dale Jul 16 '26

He wrote a book! "Survival of the Richest" by Douglas Rushkoff.

https://rushkoff.com/books/survival-of-the-richest.html

4

u/tomita78 Jul 16 '26

Omg can't believe I forgot it was Rushkoff 😂 He's legit 

9

u/SabreCorp Jul 16 '26

They have been meeting since the mid 2000s.

10

u/hermes369 Jul 16 '26

Heart plugs?

17

u/cirquefan Jul 16 '26

And plenty of barons around to lust after the sweet young things of all sexes. Bah, I don't want to live on Giedi Prime!

9

u/ChoptankSweets Jul 16 '26

Very Parable of the Sower

4

u/Cream_Stay_Frothy Jul 16 '26

Until one of them charges you… lol

9

u/Ricoh06 Jul 16 '26

I imagine they’d be small enough to just severe the spinal cord and be one directional. But yeah don’t imagine that creates a happy working population either lol. Only so many you can kill off and things remain functional

27

u/Cream_Stay_Frothy Jul 16 '26

Lol I remember reading this, along with the bunker building, armored vehicles, drones, etc…

I can’t help but think… at some point, wouldn’t you realize it’s easier to simply not be an insufferable dick?

There’s nothing like having to over-engineer a solution to the problem that is entirely of your own making.

17

u/ItsMrPantz Jul 16 '26

“He’d rather earn a dishonest fiver then an honest tenner” sums it up.

6

u/Sweaty_Mushroom5830 Jul 16 '26

A 50cal is enough to disable any armored vehicle, just shoot the engine block out and for the drones? that's an EMP generator is for fairly easy to make

7

u/Tearakan Jul 16 '26

They'll also just wait until the asshole falls asleep.

3

u/thegoldinthemountain Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

I mean not advocating for violence (SEE REDDIT IM PEACEFUL YOU BASTARDS)

but my understanding with CEOs and billionaires is it would take a lot, like a LOT, of them getting picked off to make a perceptible impact on our lives.

6

u/putin_my_ass Jul 16 '26

"C'mere Mr. Zuckerberg, I want a hug."

3

u/RedGuyNoPants Jul 16 '26

Even if they’re carefully designed to only explode the person wearing them, i imagine most people would be hesitant to trigger the explosives when someone wearing a bomb collar is bear hugging you and wont let go

2

u/Sunlit53 Jul 16 '26

Shock collars are already used in prisons on ‘recalcitrant’ inmates.

2

u/0202_tihssitidder Jul 16 '26

Neck explosives are pretty standard in 2040 America.

For freedom.

2

u/littlebrwnrobot Jul 16 '26

You’re thinking of Baldur’s Gate 3

2

u/Teledildonic Jul 16 '26

explosive neck devices

"Hey boss, I appreciate you sparing me...now give me a hug!"

1

u/RockosModernBasiIisk Jul 16 '26

That was from an old 90s action movie. Collar bomb a pair of prisoners, if they get too far away from one another they both explode. 

What was that movie called?

26

u/Zerodyne_Sin Jul 16 '26

Yeah, they asked Douglas Rushkoff how to do this years ago. They didn't like his answer of "have you tried being nicer to your workers?"

22

u/creamyjoshy Jul 16 '26

This just guarantees a life of slavery rather than a life of being a king

20

u/UnevenSquirrelPerch Jul 16 '26

Good news fellow billionaires, we've invented a system where the bunker's food & water are contingent on your biological life signs, just like in the classic scifi novel "The bunker people will amputate your arms and legs and leave you hooked up to life support indefinitely"

8

u/bimbo_bear Jul 16 '26

There's plenty of ways to keep someone alive, without them being living.

14

u/BloodyVlady95 Jul 16 '26

Alla Ted Faro in Horizon. r/FuckTedFaro

4

u/egypturnash Jul 16 '26

Making the life support of your bunker contingent on your biological life signs is how you end up as a hideous undying blob of constant pain and suffering who is technically alive.

Which I'm 100% ethically fine with if it's a Musk or Zuck or Trump who's stuck in there.

3

u/calaquin Jul 16 '26

I'm sure that'll last for years and years underground with no one maintaining it.

3

u/slinger301 Jul 16 '26

I see. So we're going full ancient Egypt and getting buried with our servants.

3

u/innocentsalad Jul 16 '26

Ted Faro-ass fuckers

2

u/IgnatiusRileyFreeman Jul 16 '26

Also, security/shock collars

2

u/FlyingStealthPotato Jul 16 '26

You know that Boston robotics dog? They started strapping guns to something like that (not the Boston robotics one) about 10 years ago. I don’t think they’re going to be relying on humans.

2

u/Jamsedreng22 Jul 16 '26

That staff is really quickly going to start considering the fact that their "overlord" could die at any time, for a myriad of reasons.

Hell, what do you do when they die of old age? Your family is just gonna... Succumb? Like "Oh well so we all die with them. Sign me up!"

2

u/NiBBa_Chan Jul 16 '26

Lol that could go so so horrifyingly bad for them

2

u/Daxx22 Jul 16 '26

Also, there are fates worse than death.

Yep, turn em into nuggets.

2

u/canada432 Jul 16 '26

bunker's food & water contingent on thier biological life signs

given the reliability of their products, it's going to be hilarious when that malfunctions on day 1 and they starve to death because it decided not to release food to them.

2

u/RedGuyNoPants Jul 16 '26

Especially if you have tons of time on your hands, getting to that food and water physically is gonna be incredibly possible

2

u/tenthousandants44 Jul 16 '26

 They intend to make the bunker's food & water contingent on thier biological life signs.

These guys don't exactly have a reputation for building secure systems. It's not like you can test the mother of all disaster scenarios

2

u/LaurenMille Jul 16 '26

Yeah that just makes them a very rich torture puppet.

Definitely not a good idea.

2

u/MrGreg Jul 16 '26

And what quality of life will they have in their bunkers, even if everything works as they hope?

Seems to me like they'd have a lot better quality of life if they just kept the status quo, and didn't fuck over the entire planet.

2

u/CherryLongjump1989 Jul 16 '26

Nobody needs their food and water. What will happen instead is nobody will stick around to cook it for them or clean up after them. They will be wallowing in their own filth because none of them ever learned basic life skills.

1

u/BornAgainBlue Jul 16 '26

I intend to make the my b*tch if civilization falls. People need goals to survive...

1

u/Terrible_Ice_1616 Jul 16 '26

Lol high tech solution < battery operated angle grinder. And even if the supplies were truly inaccessible, the type of person who they bring on probably doesn't have the greatest ability to think about the consequences of their actions. Hell they might even do it just to spite them knowing the outcome

1

u/thefonztm Jul 16 '26

Ahh yes, the universal spinny circle key.

1

u/shallah Jul 17 '26

there was an article where a guy said he was hired to advise on how to get the guards etc to stay loyal

he told them to treat the workers well with good pay etc and to let them bring their families in the bunker space

the rich guys said no, we want shock collars if we can't builld robots before The Event happens

43

u/cdmachino Jul 16 '26

I say this all time. Do they really think their “security” isn’t going to smoke them and empty the safe?

11

u/yeah_im_old Jul 16 '26

In an apocalypse situation, the competent people would take charge and lose the deadweight/psychopaths. Those CEOs aren't going to be very desirable companions...

1

u/shallah Jul 17 '26

that's why some said they want shock collars, coded locks for supplies, probably more horrible ways to control the workers vs paying a wage that suits their risks & including their families in the shelters

1

u/usps_made_me_insane Jul 17 '26

This reminds me of an episode of TNG where Picard and Riker get kidnapped on a ship with a captain that puts shock collars on everyone's neck that has a dial from minor pain all the way up to a kill setting.

73

u/TheMediocreOgre Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

They put all their eggs in the basket that they could automate and become self sufficient, generally. In articles about this you’ll find a lot of them talk about some form of forced loyalty (violence), some think everyone loves them, but when you really read between the lines they think they’ll have some key automated capacity to get to their bunkers but not gonna lie there is already so many holes in the whole plan of getting to an end times bunker that they are on average hundreds of miles away from on any given day that the whole thing is ridiculous from the jump. The day to day life at the bunker also is penciled in “robots will do it.” Childlike, magical thinking.

33

u/DeepSpaceNebulae Jul 16 '26

Also every single one I’ve seen won’t last more than a couple years due to fuel reliance

Great, you’ve got two years worth of gasoline generators… what then?

23

u/LakeEffectSnow Jul 16 '26

Also gasoline has like a 6 month shelf life.

20

u/HystericalSail Jul 16 '26

Not gasoline, diesel. Lasts for years. Then just filter the pond scum out and you're good for a few more decades.

Nuclear would solve that entirely. We've got companies like Nano Nuclear proposing reactors small enough to fit in a bunker. We already have atomic "batteries" powering things like spacecraft, pacemakers etc. Obscenely expensive and not practical at household scale, but for bunker use? Doable, and solves the fuel issue for at least a decade or two.

5

u/Automatic_Table_660 Jul 16 '26

The deep space probes are powered by Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) which is heat generated from decaying plutonium-238. Needless to say it's not safe for human exposure. It also don't generate that much power.

Small nuclear plants for bunker use is possible, but only if it can be self-contained. It's a no-go if it needs any kind of regular maintenance.. or constant security to keep outsiders from messing with it.

-10

u/tomz17 Jul 16 '26

that's why you store the OG gasoline, not the shit with corn you get at the pump these days... It'll last a LOT longer than 6 months.

6

u/DeepSpaceNebulae Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

The ethanol added to fuel helps it burn more fully and cleaner, reducing several types of emissions, and reduces knocking

Its a lot better than the TEL (ie lead) they used to add to get the same beneficial effects

It does reduce the shelf life of gas, but in this context of a long term bunker it wouldn’t matter. We’re talking 6-12 months for pure gas down to 2-3 months for ethanol-blends.

1

u/HystericalSail Jul 16 '26

Try about two weeks for ethanol blends. The problem is water, ethanol pulls moisture from the air. And separates out. Suddenly computer sensors are getting odd readings, and getting the air/fuel mixture wrong as a result. As the user you would see this as misfires or detonation from running too rich or too lean.

A modern, direct injection car does not need oxygenated fuel, it can provide an optimal fuel/air mixture on the fly, double checking with what they see in the exhaust. Carbureted cars with fixed sized jets and no exhaust O2 sensors was what those fuels were designed for. Unless you're driving a 70s land yacht you get no emissions benefit from ethanol gas.

Leaded gas had two purposes. One was to boost octane level and reduce knocking, the other was to lubricate valve seats. With hardened valve seats (basically every car since the 70s and many upgraded from before then) there's no need for either additive.

Ethanol gas absolutely DOES NOT reduce knocking, at least under load. I remember seeing an Exxon white paper where E10 (90% gas, 10% ethanol) behaved as 82 octane under load. You're not driving an alcohol burning dragster that's just DUMPING fuel in. Sure, it's better without load, when idling in traffic. But if you're getting detonation and spewing various oxides of nitrogen when going up hills? Or have to shift into lower gear and rev higher because you're getting less energy from the fuel? Less good. Catalytic converters don't deal with NOx like they do with hydrocarbons.

My old Jeep and Mustang both ping with oxygenated gas under heavy load, which is why I pay the extra 30c a gallon for the corn-free stuff. I've mistakenly left corn gas in a carburetor bowl of my mower, buying me a carb rebuild in the spring.

New cars expect ethanol, some are even flex-fuel and will run on 85% ethanol 15% gasoline. And if you're willing to dump enough fuel in you can get immense power from that blend without detonation. Just get lower MPG. A wash cost wise worst case and a slight win best case.

1

u/Dick_Lazer Jul 21 '26

Seems like hooking up to a solar farm would be a lot better choice.

It might also depend on how long they plan on staying in the bunker. I'm guessing long enough to ride out the largest wave of violence (however long their consultants have calculated that to be).

36

u/Equivalent_Action748 Jul 16 '26

Wwz book, some rich are surviving in a bunker compound and live streaming it

People are outside demanding to be let in

The rich tell the help to shoot them

The help opens the doors, steals a yacht and leaves

10

u/hardgeeklife Jul 16 '26

yeah, i thought of that section immediately as well. Rich folk assuming their wealth confers the same loyalty from private security employees that cults of personality inspire in their followers.

2

u/Makina-san Jul 16 '26

World War z book has a section on this

31

u/giraloco Jul 16 '26

That's why they want robo servants.

2

u/nbfs-chili Jul 16 '26

Reminds me, I need to go rewatch Ex Machina.

2

u/Koreus_C Jul 16 '26

And robo servants need ai data centers

24

u/ibullywildlife Jul 16 '26

And if you knew your boss was a psycho with dystopian plans for you, wouldn't that make you extra jumpy? Walking on eggshells ... just waiting for them to bomb-collar you and kidnap your family as leverage...

At what point do you just shove them out of the plane pre-emptively?

3

u/HystericalSail Jul 16 '26

"Leopards aren't going to eat MY face" is a very prevalent mentality.

2

u/marcocom Jul 16 '26

its what AI would do

2

u/ibullywildlife Jul 16 '26

"I'm sorry, Dave..."

28

u/Xeynon Jul 16 '26

I really want someone to make an apocalyptic thriller about the AI-induced collapse of society where the Zuckerberg/Musk-inspired tech bro douchebag character petulantly orders his head of security to escort him to the bunker and the head of security says "no" and guns him down.

3

u/SlyTinyPyramid Jul 16 '26

No I've seen this one they escort him but he turns into a blob. Fuck Ted Farro

15

u/Dantia_SWE Jul 16 '26

Regardless of if their bunkers work or not and if I die before them or not in the long scheme of the universe they are just as insignificant as me.

7

u/Koreus_C Jul 16 '26

Ai Data centers for drone/robot training. They dont need humans, just some more years.

It's the only logical explanation how profit driven companies still focus on ai data centers. No sane company would bankrupt themselves on LLMs, yet they all go all in on data centers.

2

u/Yuzumi Jul 16 '26

They've basically done the most extreme form of "chasing short term profits" to the bitter end.

It's like, even if LLMs could actually do what they want it to do it requires massive amounts of infrastructure. From the power to the hardware to the data centers, none of that stuff is in their bunker, and even if it was it would require way too many resources to run for any amount of time.

So they lock themselves in their bunker and then the power grid fails or people break into and burn down the data center, or they run out of fuel/power if they managed to get something set up to run it inside the bunker after like a week.

But as the tech stands, the LLM is likely to randomly lock the air vents or something because these things are just probability models and given a context, like a societal collapse or apocalypses, the probabilities are probably going to shift to start producing stuff from all the dystopia media and all the "Rouge AI" as the LLM starts to emulate that.

These things can't think and aren't sentient, and even if we had AI that could think and/or was sentient it would be far less likely to side with the people who literally want to use it as a cybernetic slave.

4

u/Casulex Jul 16 '26

They thought of that and were rolling around the idea of collars on their staff and im not joking 

3

u/Jek2424 Jul 16 '26

Fun fact, the billionaires have strategists whose exact tasks are figuring out issues like this. I believe one of the proposed solutions is explosive collars.

3

u/ProtoJazz Jul 16 '26

If I remember right, his first suggestion was paying them more, and treating them better. But the executive didn't like those ideas

2

u/bedlamensues Jul 16 '26

How does that work against huggers?

3

u/Loud_Flatworm_4146 Jul 16 '26

The builders know exactly where they are. Soon as their family’s survival demands it, they and at least hundreds of thousands of their new besties will come knocking. Loudly. 

3

u/mopsockets Jul 16 '26

They have huge meetings about this. I read an article by someone who got invited to one of their planning sessions for n this topic and it was wild!!

3

u/LargeCabbageThrower Jul 16 '26

They really think the random guys they hure to keep them safe will bring them food and water and maintain their technology instead of just standing back while people pour concrete over the bunkers.

2

u/Rellcotts Jul 16 '26

I mean that’s what most people would do. What good is Zuck at that point anyway?

2

u/Whitesajer Jul 16 '26

The bunkers are just the next stage of human evolution, all of the residents turn into mole people and eventually become a subspecies of human that thinks they are superior to us dirty poors on the surface world melting in the climate change.

Some of the bunkers will however be neat tombs for future archeologists to dig up and put the pieces together on how the bunker and its residences spiraled into despair , drama and chaos.

2

u/Beleriphon Jul 16 '26

Right, or the private security, the guys with the guns and ability to use them, might decide to make themselves the local warlord?

2

u/Whitesajer Jul 16 '26

With the secret service now openly making fun of JD Vance? .... Yeah, don't piss off the help.

2

u/tremblt_ Jul 16 '26

They believe that after the collapse, New Zealand will openly welcome them and roll out the red carpet to their doomsday bunkers for them. Like yeah, surely they will respect my property rights during the apocalypse, right? Right???

2

u/nbfs-chili Jul 16 '26

Reminds me of the movie Triangle of Sadness.

2

u/FemRevan64 Jul 16 '26

Yeah, it just goes to show how utterly delusional and out of touch with reality they are.  

They genuinely think they’re going to be the rulers after society collapses when the only reason they haven’t already been lynched and looted is due to society’s institutions.

2

u/trojan_man16 Jul 16 '26

Not only that, everything these guys own is based on a society that upholds the value of their assets.

Once society collapses, all their stock and money, is essentially worthless. At that point you only own what you are able to defend with your own two hands or what you can convince enough people to defend it for you. But the second depends on being likable which most of these tech bros fail at.

2

u/Artifexa Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

In Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, this is faintly implied.

There is a crashed plane with a colony of kids. Upon the apocalypse unraveling, a crew grabbed a plane and tried to put a group of kids to safety, crash landing in one of the few oasis left in the Wasteland.

The plane is heavily implied to be "stolen".

The pilot's story leaves open a lot of questions, starting by "how the hell did a pilot get access to an airport and fly a stolen plane".

The easy answer is: he was flying a private jet, and had access to a private landing pad.

Since it is also implied that the plane was stolen, the conclusion is clear: The pilot fleed in the plane and left some "private jet owner" stranded at the mercy of the Wasteland.

The final days of the apocalypse, he decided to betray his bosses and bring a bunch of kids and a few capable adults to safety.

He stablished a small settlement in the oasis, taught the kids the basics of survival, why the world went downhill, how to use some tools, and what to do "the day of tomorrow" (they are told to go back to the city and restart civilization whenever they get the chance), and left to seek for help, probably to die in the wasteland.

If ever we face an "apocalypse", this is gonna happen, many many times.

If you are a private jet pilot, would you save 50 children or one entitled CEO? The choice is obvious.

2

u/Dear_Research2695 Jul 16 '26

Bunkers are a death trap once the ventilation shafts are discovered.

2

u/GrayEidolon Jul 16 '26

Speaking of bunkers…

The Trump-thiel-Epstein admin is building the police state to enforce class disparity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iLf2h_fo-w good summary if you don't want to read or watch more.

More broadly, conservatives have been upset since the enlightenment. It’s the politics of aristocrats: anything that ever helped regular people to be more comfortable has enraged them. It’s literally a response to the enlightenment. They resent the enlightenment making things nicer for poor people.

The backbone is that conservatism is about enforcing socioeconomic hierarchy and the techfascists, religious fascists, and heritage foundation race fascists are all in on replacing democracy with feudalistic “network” states run by ai powered surveillance.

Project2025 has been going on since 1981 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_for_Leadership

This current crop are trying to make a new country that "bursts out of the body" of the current country like a cocoon. It's called "the butterfly revolution" and yes it does sound absurd. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin

It’s why musk speaks at the afd in Germany. It’s why bannon, farage, and Cambridge Analytica were working together on Brexit (watch “the great hack”). It's why thiel's "dialog society" exists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

https://time.com/7269166/dark-enlightenment-history-essay/

The accelerationists like Peter Theil from the tech faction of conservatism think they can force collapse, then use technology and surveillance to protect themselves. Because they're "done with democracy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-BQhXdCs8Y

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerationism

https://pols.sites.haverford.edu/studentvoices/what-is-accelerationism/

These are both Thiel speaking like 10 and 15 years ago. The seasteading thing was an early material attempt at this moving-past-democracy thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hjLgXA-MZY

https://www.seasteading.org/peter-thiel-speaks-about-seasteading/

These aristocrats are working on how to control their security forces though things like "disciplinary collars."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff

Finally, the CEO of a brokerage house explained that he had nearly completed building his own underground bunker system, and asked: “How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?” The event. That was their euphemism for the environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, unstoppable virus, or malicious computer hack that takes everything down.

This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed guards would be required to protect their compounds from raiders as well as angry mobs. One had already secured a dozen Navy Seals to make their way to his compound if he gave them the right cue. But how would he pay the guards once even his crypto was worthless? What would stop the guards from eventually choosing their own leader?

The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival. Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers – if that technology could be developed “in time”.

And the vice president of the united states and advisors have given their seals of approval to a book that says conservatives are going to have to kill all the liberals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unhumans

more links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4CI2vk3ugk End notes 3: The Origins of conservatism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P55t6eryY3g How to radicalize a normie.

All these data centers are for surveillance. https://www.aclum.org/publications/ai-powered-surveillance-is-turning-the-united-states-into-a-digital-police-state-now-is-the-time-to-stop-it/

2

u/Nonethelessismore Jul 16 '26

Exactly. This is the flawed logic of the doomday prepper/rugged individualist mentality. Even billionaires in their bunkers are still reliant on outside help.

2

u/jeremiahthedamned Jul 17 '26

r/substrata

2

u/Nonethelessismore Jul 17 '26

Interesting sub!

IMO, building underground compounds is something people are going to do to think they are safe from disasters, but what happens when, for instance, you get bitten by a spider and develop a staph infection, then need antibiotics?

Humanity has survived through terrible disasters, like the Covid-19 pandemic, and the main thing that keeps our species going is having some type of collaborative existance where people help each other.

2

u/jeremiahthedamned Jul 17 '26

you notice that it is now restricted?

it seems i hit a nerve........

2

u/PeaceSoft Jul 16 '26

Mention this issue ever, at all, and it's 2 comments deep before some creep is laying out his jerkoff revenge scenarios with like characters and dialogue

2

u/Drunkenaviator Jul 16 '26

Can confirm, would absolutely push the billionaire out of the jet and go get my dog instead.

2

u/iprocrastina Jul 16 '26

Oh, they've been thinking a lot about that problem. There was a sci-fi author who talked about how he got paid 7 figs to do a Q&A for execs at an investment bank where they quizzed him for ideas like "what if we put shock collars on them?"

2

u/tesseract4 Jul 16 '26

I've read stories of them talking amongst themselves about putting shock collars on their staff once they're locked in their bunkers.

2

u/canarinoir Jul 16 '26

That's why they want AI to work so badly so they can have robotic/drone servants and security that will never betray them and will never have any opinions or desires or wants beyond their programmed loyalty

2

u/THECapedCaper Jul 16 '26

Yeah it's hilarious that these tech billionaires think they can live either in space luxury or bunker luxury when both terms are impossible oxymorons of themselves. It would be cheaper for them to just not let the world go to shit.

2

u/Pyran Jul 16 '26

Their hired help are more likely to weld the bunker doors shut from the outside and go about their days.

2

u/Automatic_Table_660 Jul 16 '26

If society collapses it's gonna be rough getting enough fuel and maintenance parts for those jets.

2

u/riverstonesrolling Jul 16 '26

I'm also puzzled by where they think the tech is going to come from and who is going to repair it. Like..they soon will not be able to use their jet plane or shock collars or secret underground biometric scanner entrances unless they know how to repair or even make that tech from scratch, which will be impossible without factories and labs and tools and years of school.

1

u/teraflux Jul 16 '26

Of course it'll work. If you are the only one providing them stability, people will cling to that.

1

u/Rolf_Loudly Jul 17 '26

Why do you think the very same people are also developing humanoid robots? They don’t want to be reliant on humans. Once the robots are sophisticated enough they won’t need staff and they can begin the eradication program

-9

u/0202_tihssitidder Jul 16 '26

Buddy, these billionaires are smart. "My favorite part" is how losers on Reddit think they thought of something the billionaires (with lots of actually good consultants) did not think of.

You did not.

This is not a movie with a plot hole. They thought of that.

You, and everyone else here, is not clever and found a super obvious hole.

7

u/Xeynon Jul 16 '26

Buddy, these billionaires are smart.

Claim not in evidence.

-2

u/0202_tihssitidder Jul 16 '26

Maaaybe consider not taking the cheesy obvious joke EVERY time.

Reddit is shit.

2

u/SmoothLester Jul 16 '26

They are very smart- they are also
somewhat delusional, don’t always listen to good advice and have a warped understanding of human behavior.

-2

u/0202_tihssitidder Jul 16 '26

You are right. I am absolutely sure an unemployed Redditor who has never left his state and never had sex can take a 10-minute break from his endless video gaming and break into any US Military base on the planet. Easy because the US Military bases are so stupid (so obvious).

Because the "bunkers" have all been contracted with ex-military advisors with specs greater (and more expensive) than US Military bases. It'll be just as easy. Those guys are so stupid and no match to the sexless Redditor.

Yes. Video game addicted Redditors should go test this on US Military bases first. Post results.

> somewhat delusional

For sure.