The richest and most powerful of them seem preoccupied with trying to escape the world that they currently rule, whether through space colonialism or "waking up from the simulation" or the like.

[–] sub_ubi@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Completely true of the public-facing capitalists, who effectively serve as PR for their class.

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 23 points 2 months ago

You may be on to something there, though some of the quieter ones I have names for, like the Mercers or the Waltons, do seem miserable from what I know about them.

Still, if those are outliers, unless the quiet capitalists are secretly richer than their loudest and most obnoxious counterparts, I can't help but wonder why the richest among them are also the loudest and most miserable.

[–] Naz@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

they live like miserable gods preoccupied with escaping from reality

It's because they realize something as they age: For all their wealth, they are still mortal, their physical bodies will decline, and their egotistical, narcissistic lifetime will ultimately amount to absolutely nothing as they rot in the ground and cease existing like everyone else.

Mortality puts things into perspective for those people because they're driven by a philosophical imperative that's borderline pathological in nature:

Donald Trump watched the video of himself almost getting headshot on repeat, 9 times a day. Some said it was PTSD, but that's assuming a lot.

Elon Musk is quoted as saying in The Atlantic that he's "rigged for war".

Well, what war? War against who? Against what?

"Escaping from the matrix seems like "a war against reality itself".

We can only be so lucky that none of those fucks will ever attain apotheosis or immortality no matter how hard they try.

Maybe that's why they're so bent on destroying the planet -- if they can't have it, so can't you.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

There was a quote from one of them the other day talking about being unable to sleep well because he's constantly afraid of people coming after him for what he's got. If only there were a way to remove that target from your back...