I think there's maybe another thing beyond $ making going on: they may just see societal breakdown as fun and interesting in same way ppl like to read about dystopia. Most ppl would never want to live in a dystopia. But billionaires can think it would be exciting AND comfortable b/c they have $$$
3. Epstein was a fixer, someone who made money connecting different parts of the elite together. In this case, he was very interested in hooking up Thiel and Barak in project of selling new surveillance tech to autocrat regimes. For this business project, breakdown of global order was good.
If you've spent your time gleefully consuming dystopia culture and are an egoist, you try to see signs of a coming collapse in normal day life. When collapse doesn't come & you spend your time increasingly bored by affluence, maybe one starts to think about how to use power to liven things up.
You and I cannot understand it, because we look desperately forward to a vacation four months down the line. But if your life can be an unthinkably luxurious vacation anytime you want, where do you find excitement?
You could run for normal office. But if you time closely watching what politicians do, it does not look glamorous. So maybe you watch Idiocracy and think about how you can shape society so you end up as Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
Feb 3, 2026 00:00
