The Omnibox: all things television
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Arthur Brain
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𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭:: An intriguing Sci-fi/Espionage show with J.K. Simmons in dual roles and that was axed too early, sadly...
annabenedetti
like marbles on glass
I saw that, I like J.K. Simmons.
Hey, it's a fair comparison. I just finished series two of Paradise as it happens..
It's a lesson in human hierarchies and motivations.
Every once in a while you hear about billionaire bunkers, but this article is recent and it got my attention:
In the summer of 2026, a Virginia-based firm called Safe (Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments) is unveiling Aerie, its flagship underground complex near Washington, D.C., at a construction cost of $300 million. The project plans to expand to a network of luxury doomsday residential bunkers across 50 U.S. cities, with 1,000 affiliate locations worldwide. Residences can cost up to $20 million each. Aerie is not a product for survivalists buying freeze-dried food in bulk. It is a product for a class of people so wealthy that spending $20 million on a contingency plan barely registers as a line item.
. . . .
What the Billionaires Are Actually Afraid Of
Media theorist and CUNY professor Douglas Rushkoff got an unusually direct look at this fear. In his book Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, he describes being invited to speak to some of the world’s wealthiest people about the “future of technology.” When he arrived, he found himself answering one urgent question from five extraordinarily powerful men: How do I survive what’s coming? These billionaires were asking how to insulate themselves from the social unrest, climate change, and technological disruption that their own ventures had helped to cause – with solutions ranging from fortified bunkers to escape plans for New Zealand to launching into space.
Hoffman has said that for many in this world, the worry is specifically that AI may lead to vast unemployment, and that public opinion might turn against Silicon Valley bosses to the extent it’s no longer safe for them. The question being asked, in Hoffman’s own words: “Is the country going to turn against the wealthy? Is it going to turn against technological innovation? Is it going to turn into civil disorder?”
[Tech billionaires] are not primarily afraid of asteroids or pandemics. They are afraid of us – of the people below them on the wealth ladder, and of the social consequences of the inequality they have helped build. That fear is an implicit acknowledgment that the current distribution of wealth and power is indefensible, and that they know it.
Hoffman has said that for many in this world, the worry is specifically that AI may lead to vast unemployment, and that public opinion might turn against Silicon Valley bosses to the extent it’s no longer safe for them. The question being asked, in Hoffman’s own words: “Is the country going to turn against the wealthy? Is it going to turn against technological innovation? Is it going to turn into civil disorder?”
[Tech billionaires] are not primarily afraid of asteroids or pandemics. They are afraid of us – of the people below them on the wealth ladder, and of the social consequences of the inequality they have helped build. That fear is an implicit acknowledgment that the current distribution of wealth and power is indefensible, and that they know it.