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Apocalypse Bunker Fails as Wealthy Residents Turn on Each Other (futurism.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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[–] 37 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (11 children)

You would have thought that the people making these shelters would have learned from Covid that they simply can’t crawl in a hole and stay safe. The wealthy are used to soft easy living and a underclass of people who do what they tell them to because of their money.

If we really had a society ending disease or event they wouldn’t last two weeks before they came out of their bunkers looking for entertainment because they were bored. You couldn’t tell most of them to stay inside or even wear a fucking mask during Covid.

On top of that they may have the skills to make money but the skills a P.E. Investor has from raiding healthy companies and pilfering assets is not the same skill set needed to lead people when money has no meaning and/or form collective groups to survive.

Without a government and its protection, the wealthy are just going to end up dead with the head of security for the bunker fucking their trophy wife.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    So.... become the head of security for a billionare, got it.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    A consultant reported that billionaires, when confronted with the idea that the private security team have no incentive to continue to obey the billionaire once society had collapsed, asked the consultant how they could maintain control of the security team, such as if shock collars or locking up all the food would work.

    The consultant suggested they simply treat the security team really well beforehand, like just being a good friend.

    The billionaires then became concerned, and I shit you not, asked "but where does that end?"

    I'll try to find the link to add it here.

    Edit: Here it is.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    Simply treat the security team really well beforehand, like just being a good friend.... billionaires then asked “but where does that end?”

    This is how you know they have become a net detriment to society. This is why they believe so strongly in things like "return to office" "no UBI" and poverty level minimum wages.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Yeah..... No billionaire knows how to exist without exploiting labour. They aren't going to be going into their bunkers without security, chefs, cleaners, or entertainers. There's so much cognitive dissonance required to simultaneously believe that the government/world is going to be destroyed, but you will safe and still have a legal right to property.

    The only thing that maintains their wealth is the legal and economic system they use to exploit other people's work. Without it their property is just going to be seized by the first person who is quicker on the draw.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I mean I'm about a billion dollars short of being a billionaire, and I don't know how to live without exploiting labor either. I can't farm, I can't hunt, I can't identify edible berries, roots, and mushrooms, I can't sew beyond fixing a button. I know a lot about mechanisms, but it's far from clear to me I could do anything useful in that field once the electricity is out, let alone once source metal starts getting hard to find. Everything would get so much harder so quickly. Hell, I don't even know how to dig a latrine that'll prevent the water supply from being contaminated, assuming we can find a water supply. (On the plus side, sources of pollution in water supplies should start to fall apart pretty fast.)

    I dunno. I just think everyone thinking about the collapse wildly underestimates how hard everything will be. I can't really picture my sorry ass lasting long at all.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Eh... There's a difference between utilizing or societally benefiting someone else's labour and exploiting someone for their labour. Exploitation in an economic sense generally requires you to capitally monopolize a persons excess production value for personal gain. You can't really be considered exploitive unless you own the means of production. Basically unless you are a business owner or employ someone you aren't really participating in capitalism in an exploitive manner.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I guess I didn't drill down into the exploitation aspect, yeah. The people actually doing the jobs I don't know how to do--mining, farming, sewing, etc.--are at this point almost entirely disadvantaged people in other countries, who are being woefully underpaid and subjected to terrible conditions. (A lot of farming is also done here, but it's still by exploited foreign workers, so...) And a bunch of that relies on other systems too, like farming being done by as few workers as it is depends on fertilizers from the petrochemical industries, which are hurting people EVERYWHERE. I wouldn't be able to afford anything if it weren't discounted in this way. Even if there was no actual apocalypse, and only the exploitation went away, it's not at all clear to me that I would have a way to keep myself alive.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Oh for sure, capitalism is built on exploitation, and it makes everyone rely on the system of exploitation that it creates. My main point is that you as an individual are not really responsible for that exploitation. The reason you are reliant on cheap imported labour in the first place is because you yourself are likely a worker being exploited by a person capitalizing on your labor.

    only the exploitation went away, it's not at all clear to me that I would have a way to keep myself alive.

    Just because exploitation theoretically disappears doesn't mean there wouldn't be another system of labour and resources organization to replace it. Every form of labour is equally important so long as it fulfills a need for society. There can only be so many farmers or minors.

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