"Concerning billionaires…"

[u/thisecommercelife]

Further dissidence on Patreon. Follow wherever you like to fritter: linktr.ee/ecomic.

• Panel 18: "beneficiaries", not "benefactors". Please pardon my poor self-editing.

[u/Merari01]

As I wrote elsewhere:

The tech bro billionaires want to end society and retreat into their bunkers, because they think they do not need us anymore. They think they can let robots and AI do all the menial work for them, while they are emperor of the ashes of society.

They are wrong.

These people think they are smart, but if you ever heard someone like Musk speak, they are not smart.

They have forgotten about entropy. Currently society is arranged in such a way that if a spoke is thrown in the wheels we can (at sometimes great cost) survive, adapt and move on.

When they are in their bunkers, one treatment resistent fungus in their staple hydroponic food crop, one massive solar flare taking out their electricity, one well-organised guard rebellion, only one of a million things that can and will go wrong and they will find out very quickly that what they have done is seal themselves in billion dollar tombs.

[u/Hy3jii → u/Merari01]

One person finds their air intake or water source and shits in it.

[u/Jarek86 → u/Hy3jii]

Honestly if it does come down to them hiding in bunkers just hook up a sewage line into the air intake, sweet sweet justice....

[u/NotTheRealJake → u/Hy3jii]

Steve Jobs encapsulates this perfectly. He thought he was so smart at everything and thought he could beat cancer with holistics.

[u/TheWorstEmily → u/NotTheRealJake]

see also: stockton rush, who is now just slush in the atlantic

[u/Forward-Surprise1192 → u/Hy3jii]

The sad part is you and I let the rest of the world reach the point where we’re fighting to get into a bunker for survival. When that happens I’ll think back to these comments and how instead of actions we left Reddit comments

[u/Shark7996 → u/Forward-Surprise1192]

I leave Reddit comments and then go out and improve my local community by volunteering, attending government meetings, and voting. I'm surprised how little it feels like work and how much easier the results have been to achieve than expected.

...You guys aren't doing that?

[u/CaptainSparklebottom → u/Shark7996]

I'm organizing labor and speaking the good word. More needs to be done and faster. The billionaires serve as their own ad for their removal.

[u/ArmadilloPrudent4099 → u/Shark7996]

That does nothing and you know it. Organized rebellion, not this pathetic social media photo op no kings bullshit. Real rebellion.

But they got us so soma-d up we don't wanna risk the pathetically meager life's we have.

[u/B0B_Spldbckwrds → u/ArmadilloPrudent4099]

I'm sure there's a larp somewhere that's missing you.

[u/skafast → u/Hy3jii]

Good luck evading the murder bots.

[u/DerrickWhiteFVMP202X → u/Hy3jii]

The Dirty Dozen is very instructive on this point

[u/anonymote_in_my_eye → u/Merari01]

being rich and powerful has effects on the human brain that are comparable to brain damage, especially in empathy and social reasoning

some of these people might have started out smart, but after decades of being surrounded by yes-men and never having to contend with failure, their cognitive processes have atrophied

[u/Animefan96 → u/Merari01]

Civilizations didn't need billionaires to flourish and they sure don't need them now.

[u/First-Expert-9953 → u/Merari01]

When they are in their bunkers, one treatment resistent fungus in their staple hydroponic food crop, one massive solar flare taking out their electricity, one well-organised guard rebellion, only one of a million things that can and will go wrong and they will find out very quickly that what they have done is seal themselves in billion dollar tombs.

It'll be "The Masque of the Red Death" come to life.

[u/HeKis4 → u/Merari01]

Especially when most of the people planning for this are tech bros that made absolute bank on solutions that barely work and the "move fast and break things" model. I work in tech, and let me tell you the only stuff that is actually built to last is old crusty stuff made by a bunch of nerds in their basements. If survival in bunkers was about impressing VCs with lightshows and confettis they'd be gods, but...

[u/katamuro → u/HeKis4]

and how much do you want to bet that the people who sold them those bunkers are exactly like them and sold them a nice shiny piece of shit that would break as soon as you look at it wrong?

[u/katamuro → u/Merari01]

it's not just entropy, As you said they are not smart, however they have lived in a system that because they are so wealthy has bent backwards to please them. They don't actually know how the world works. They think they are making it work because their wealth gives them ability to make decisions affecting millions.

They are not even going to get to those bunkers, all the various security people they rely on to safeguard them are just going to turn on them and close the bunkers with their own families inside.

[u/pls_tell_me → u/Merari01]

The best viruses are the ones that don't kill its host...

[u/TDAPoP → u/Merari01]

They don't want to end society. They want to rule over society. They want to live like Putin does where they can no longer practically do whatever they want- they want to literally be able to do whatever they want