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> The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind i

by seren 7y ago

> 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. From the 1950s to today, it means that in mere 60 years, the optimistic view on the future has done a full U turn, and now everyone is believing we are headed for the worst (maybe with good reasons). Still this is such a radical change, in such a short time frame.

algui91 7y ago
Totally... I was afraid for the future before reading this, but now... I am even more afraid.
pjc50 7y ago
This is classic Bond-villain material. The difference from today is that back then people more readily recognised it as villainy, and the "event" would have been assumed to be nuclear war. What it's more likely to look like today is Venezuela.
- seren 7y ago
  You're correct there were more bunker built 50 years ago than today. I am not sure about the whole survivalist/bunker mentality, if everything goes down in flame, at most the bunker will only give you a few months respite, assuming you are not replaced by your head of security first. If you are a billionaire today, it would still be better to be a millionaire in a organized society in 50 years, that being the guy with the code for the fridge in a mad max society, so I am not even sure that rationally it is a good decision to have a bunker built.
Kecelij 7y ago
"combination of locks on the food supply that only they knew". In apocalyptic scenario very easily solved by torture. I guess these guys (who are empty inside and trying to fill it with money) never played Fallout, heh.
kiliantics 7y ago
The thing is that these people already treat us as disposably and inhumanly as they plan to treat their apocalypse guards. The situation after "The Event" is just a glimpse of some boiled down essence of how they already view the world and the rest of us. And they have always viewed us in this way, not just in the last decades. It's why so many CEOs are clinical psychopaths. Success in the rules we have set (or rather, they have set) for this world requires such a cold disposition towards our fellow humans.
pluma 7y ago
The thing is that the only people who can do anything about it are the people who are the most unwilling to do so because it would jeopardize their wealth. There are more than 2000 billionaires in the world right now. If only the richest elite of those got together tomorrow and decided to put an end to industrial pollution, they could do it. However climate change is a direct consequence of capitalism. Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced, masses would become unemployed. The global financial system would tank. Surviving this change would require abandoning capitalism. So a naive hope might be that some of the billionaire "preppers" are planning for exactly this scenario and intent on causing it once they've set up their little luxury bunkers to ensure their "quality of life" once their money becomes worthless. A less optimistic and more realistic view would be that they know capitalism is unsustainable but want to make sure they still get the most out of it and ensure their comfort outlasts the civilisation they're helping destroy, i.e. "screw you, I got mine".
- Mirioron 7y ago
  >There are more than 2000 billionaires in the world right now. If only the richest elite of those got together tomorrow and decided to put an end to industrial pollution, they could do it. This is naive. It might be possible that they could put a dent into it or maybe incite an apocalyptic war that could end it, but without something like that they can't change it. Industries make things for people. If you suddenly double the price of food and other goods, then what do you think people will do? They'll either just compete or riot. >Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced And who do you think buys these products? Do you really think that the general population would just accept it when their entire life comes tumbling down? I don't think any country could survive something like that.
- growlist 7y ago
  > However climate change is a direct consequence of capitalism. Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced, masses would become unemployed. The global financial system would tank. Surviving this change would require abandoning capitalism. I believe this also. But the consequences are even more profound than they might appear: it's not just the pointless excesses of capitalism we would likely have to do without (e.g. new car on finance every 3 years, food flown halfway around the world for processing then back again, 1 zillion brands of shampoo in the supermarket) - but also many of the things we no longer view as luxuries i.e. modern housing, healthcare and medicine, choice over what we eat etc.
specialist 7y ago
Grew up under Reagan. I'm surprised we're still here. But to your point, America has long had subcultures with apocalyptic fetishes. Too lazy to dig it up, but once read an article which tied it back to the types of Christians initially compelled to settle here. Book of Revelations and all that. Having been raised in a church, having someone point out this elephant in our room was a facepalm moment for me.
otakucode 7y ago
And it is interesting that not in even the most extreme circumstances would billionaires even dream of cooperating or coexisting with others except in situations where they can dominate and control others.
mempko 7y ago
We are going through the 6th mass extinction and a climate crisis so...

by seren 7y ago

algui91 7y ago

Totally... I was afraid for the future before reading this, but now... I am even more afraid.

pjc50 7y ago

This is classic Bond-villain material. The difference from today is that back then people more readily recognised it as villainy, and the "event" would have been assumed to be nuclear war. What it's more likely to look like today is Venezuela.

seren 7y ago
You're correct there were more bunker built 50 years ago than today. I am not sure about the whole survivalist/bunker mentality, if everything goes down in flame, at most the bunker will only give you a few months respite, assuming you are not replaced by your head of security first. If you are a billionaire today, it would still be better to be a millionaire in a organized society in 50 years, that being the guy with the code for the fridge in a mad max society, so I am not even sure that rationally it is a good decision to have a bunker built.

Kecelij 7y ago

"combination of locks on the food supply that only they knew". In apocalyptic scenario very easily solved by torture. I guess these guys (who are empty inside and trying to fill it with money) never played Fallout, heh.

kiliantics 7y ago

The thing is that these people already treat us as disposably and inhumanly as they plan to treat their apocalypse guards. The situation after "The Event" is just a glimpse of some boiled down essence of how they already view the world and the rest of us. And they have always viewed us in this way, not just in the last decades. It's why so many CEOs are clinical psychopaths. Success in the rules we have set (or rather, they have set) for this world requires such a cold disposition towards our fellow humans.

pluma 7y ago

The thing is that the only people who can do anything about it are the people who are the most unwilling to do so because it would jeopardize their wealth. There are more than 2000 billionaires in the world right now. If only the richest elite of those got together tomorrow and decided to put an end to industrial pollution, they could do it. However climate change is a direct consequence of capitalism. Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced, masses would become unemployed. The global financial system would tank. Surviving this change would require abandoning capitalism. So a naive hope might be that some of the billionaire "preppers" are planning for exactly this scenario and intent on causing it once they've set up their little luxury bunkers to ensure their "quality of life" once their money becomes worthless. A less optimistic and more realistic view would be that they know capitalism is unsustainable but want to make sure they still get the most out of it and ensure their comfort outlasts the civilisation they're helping destroy, i.e. "screw you, I got mine".

Mirioron 7y ago
>There are more than 2000 billionaires in the world right now. If only the richest elite of those got together tomorrow and decided to put an end to industrial pollution, they could do it. This is naive. It might be possible that they could put a dent into it or maybe incite an apocalyptic war that could end it, but without something like that they can't change it. Industries make things for people. If you suddenly double the price of food and other goods, then what do you think people will do? They'll either just compete or riot. >Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced And who do you think buys these products? Do you really think that the general population would just accept it when their entire life comes tumbling down? I don't think any country could survive something like that.
growlist 7y ago
> However climate change is a direct consequence of capitalism. Halting pollution would ruin the economy. Factories would have to be shut down, entire categories of products could no longer be produced, masses would become unemployed. The global financial system would tank. Surviving this change would require abandoning capitalism. I believe this also. But the consequences are even more profound than they might appear: it's not just the pointless excesses of capitalism we would likely have to do without (e.g. new car on finance every 3 years, food flown halfway around the world for processing then back again, 1 zillion brands of shampoo in the supermarket) - but also many of the things we no longer view as luxuries i.e. modern housing, healthcare and medicine, choice over what we eat etc.

specialist 7y ago

Grew up under Reagan. I'm surprised we're still here. But to your point, America has long had subcultures with apocalyptic fetishes. Too lazy to dig it up, but once read an article which tied it back to the types of Christians initially compelled to settle here. Book of Revelations and all that. Having been raised in a church, having someone point out this elephant in our room was a facepalm moment for me.

otakucode 7y ago

And it is interesting that not in even the most extreme circumstances would billionaires even dream of cooperating or coexisting with others except in situations where they can dominate and control others.

mempko 7y ago

We are going through the 6th mass extinction and a climate crisis so...