Wild with Sarah Wilson DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF: Navigating the sad “Mindset” of the billionaire tech bros
Mar 21, 2023
Douglas Rushkoff, cyberpunk OG, discusses the mindset of tech billionaires and their obsession with luxury bunkers. He offers solutions rooted in returning to humanity, including bringing back the Sabbath and embracing de-growth economics. The podcast explores the lack of empathy among billionaires and the need for them to reconnect with humanity and address environmental issues. It also delves into the fear and uncertainty driving billionaire preppers.
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Desert Retreat With Billionaire Bunker Plans
- Douglas Rushkoff describes being invited to an exclusive desert retreat to evaluate billionaires' bunker survival plans.
- He recounts their sketches, Navy SEAL guards on standby, implant shocks and his snarky rebuttals about moral and practical flaws.
Mindset Of Tech Billionaires Explained
- Rushkoff defines the mindset: tech billionaires believe money and technology can insulate them from crises they helped create.
- He traces this to scientific scientism and Baconian control, describing it as a deanimating impulse to digitize and dominate nature.
Science As A Control Fantasy
- Rushkoff links the mindset to Francis Bacon's rhetoric: science as taking nature "by the forelock" and submitting it, framing technology as a rape fantasy of control.
- He connects that to a desire to digitize consciousness and avoid human mystery by 'uploading' ourselves.