This time is different. This time they have Palantir, and a massive government military industrial complex, militarized police, drones, flock cameras

At least that's what they think. Things are going to break this year that have never broken in living memory. The American Southwest is going to run out of water. 50 million people will do what exactly when the wells and reservoirs run dry due to a super El Nino and record low reservoir levels?

They don't care. They also are not stupid. Its both part of their upbringing and their character. But more importantly their entire moral, ethical, religious, and societal compass is pointed to "reap it all."

They've been educated and had short term reinforced since they were in Pampers. "Short term profits," "Can't take it with you," "yolo," and other varieties of get it while you can. There's also continued moral and religious approval for this behavior. Hell, they manufacture systems of approval when they can't find it out in the world already. Thiel is masterful at this self deception.

Take for instance altruism. You had that altruism movement (the crypto bros went fill tilt on that, name escapes me at the moment) now its the "school moral ambition." Its like Nietzsche's worst philosophical nightmare come to bear. Doing good at the end of your life makes up for being a total nightmare during it. Make as much as you can as fast as you can so you can give a pittance back. That's one style of justification the ultra rich like Gates give us.

The entire institution of contemporary wealth is both a mentality and world view. That's hard to counter.