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Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

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Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#71

Post by elsewhen »

koonsolo wrote: post #64
joe_the_user wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot to nitpick here but I guess the most interesting thing to me is that, for all their wealth, access and smarts, none of these people seem to actually be trying to solve the systematic and endemic problems which would soften the blow of a major existential risk. When the best and brightest of a society are heading for the hills, that's a sign problems are coming. It's not that just they may have concrete…

You could also ask the question what they are protecting themselves from. Maybe they expect at some point that the masses will no longer want to keep paying taxes an lose money, while the rich have all the means to circumvent taxes and leverage their wealth. I don't see the breaking point yet, but there is definitely a breaking point.

the top 10% of taxpayers paid 70.87% of federal income taxes in 2014 [0].

and did you know that the bottom 50% paid 2.75%?

would dropping that 2.75% down to zero (which sounds fine to me) avert the breaking point?

[0] https://files.taxfoundation.org/20170201145744/FF540-1.png

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#72

Post by marmaduke »

joe_the_user wrote: post #43
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #13

Back in 2016 I followed Justin Kan on Snapchat and he used to hang out with Steve Huffman on his stories. I recall a few particular snap stories where they went out to Justin's new house and were shooting guns, throwing axes and generally doing fun outdoor stuff. I do seem to recall at some point there was talk about survivalist stuff in those snaps. I've done quite a lot of survival training with the US Government a…

There's a lot to nitpick here but I guess the most interesting thing to me is that, for all their wealth, access and smarts, none of these people seem to actually be trying to solve the systematic and endemic problems which would soften the blow of a major existential risk. When the best and brightest of a society are heading for the hills, that's a sign problems are coming. It's not that just they may have concrete…

Atlas shrugged?

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#73

Post by roywiggins »

mgamache wrote: post #66
roywiggins wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's convenient when they advertise this in the media, for the roving bands to target them and their stuff.

They already anticipate maximum violence and chaos, I don't think they fear non-prepped mobs hunting them based on an old news article from the non-existent internet. I am not a prepper, but I get the allure. I just need the money :)

I'm thinking more that doomsday preppers who are not vastly wealthy might keep an eye on which wealthy preppers might have well-stocked bunkers to raid in the event.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#74

Post by jonathankoren »

onetimemanytime wrote: post #65
jonathankoren wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Douglas Rushkoff had a podcast where he talked about being paid by these guys to come up with ways to keep their armed guards from turning on them. The billionaires suggested shocker collars (maybe even with explosives) and controlling the food supply by a combination lock. https://medium.com/s/futurehuman/survival-of-the-richest-9ef...

>> and controlling the food supply by a combination lock. And who will have the keys? Probably better dying once than dying every day for a year or two :). These "friends" will turn on each other and plot to exclude x today and then team with x to exclude z. Back millions of years ago! All layers of civilization stripped away, killing your ex-co founder so food lasts a little longer. You're better off, IMO, buying la…

Gold and silver are just shiny metals.

Guns for hunting are fine. Guns for protection from people are not nearly as useful as gun sellers say. In a crisis, people don’t turn into ravenous hordes, instead they ban together and help each other. Again, and again this shows up across times and cultures.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#75

Post by koonsolo »

elsewhen wrote: post #71
koonsolo wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could also ask the question what they are protecting themselves from. Maybe they expect at some point that the masses will no longer want to keep paying taxes an lose money, while the rich have all the means to circumvent taxes and leverage their wealth. I don't see the breaking point yet, but there is definitely a breaking point.

the top 10% of taxpayers paid 70.87% of federal income taxes in 2014 [0]. and did you know that the bottom 50% paid 2.75%? would dropping that 2.75% down to zero (which sounds fine to me) avert the breaking point? [0] https://files.taxfoundation.org/20170201145744/FF540-1.png

Top 10% of tax payers =/= top 10% of wealthiest people.

If you know how taxes work, and know how multinationals do taxes, you know enough.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#76

Post by tudorconstantin »

kosmos1337 wrote: post #60
tudorconstantin wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This could be solved with resource access requiring multiparty agreement, like the Bitcoin multisignature wallets: the location that contains the food and water for a week requires permission from 2 parties that are located in 2 separate geographical locations

Apologies for the snark, but only on HN would anyone seriously suggest blockchain as a solution to having a gun pointed at your head.

Why would anyone assume the risk to put a gun to your head when they know you can't give them what they want just by yourself? With blockchain you can prove them that's the case. They would have to also put a gun to the head of the cosigner(s) in order to get it.

I am not aware of any other mechanism similar to BTCs multisig that doesn't require a trusted third party.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#77

Post by elsewhen »

koonsolo wrote: post #75
elsewhen wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the top 10% of taxpayers paid 70.87% of federal income taxes in 2014 [0]. and did you know that the bottom 50% paid 2.75%? would dropping that 2.75% down to zero (which sounds fine to me) avert the breaking point? [0] https://files.taxfoundation.org/20170201145744/FF540-1.png

Top 10% of tax payers =/= top 10% of wealthiest people. If you know how taxes work, and know how multinationals do taxes, you know enough.

capital gains taxes represent less than 10% of total revenue [0] raised by the IRS. sure the rates can be raised, but is that going to make a meaningful dent?

[0] https://pocketsense.com/percent-irs-revenue-comes-capital-ga...

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#78

Post by onetimemanytime »

jonathankoren wrote: post #74
onetimemanytime wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> and controlling the food supply by a combination lock. And who will have the keys? Probably better dying once than dying every day for a year or two :). These "friends" will turn on each other and plot to exclude x today and then team with x to exclude z. Back millions of years ago! All layers of civilization stripped away, killing your ex-co founder so food lasts a little longer. You're better off, IMO, buying la…

Gold and silver are just shiny metals. Guns for hunting are fine. Guns for protection from people are not nearly as useful as gun sellers say. In a crisis, people don’t turn into ravenous hordes, instead they ban together and help each other. Again, and again this shows up across times and cultures.

OK, I understand the angry, hungry hordes. But if you're far away in NM or Idaho you might not experience that.

Still, better to have the guns than not have them. If you have them, you get to decide. If they're a 200 people rushing you're toast, but if it's a small group you have a chance. Plus you decide the hiding place /bunker, if it's seen from far away or not.

Gold and silver...the idea is that people might start trade eventually and other than tools /guns gold and silver it is.

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#79

Post by belorn »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #68
belorn wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A person with money can get an audience regardless of gender, while a person without money will be ignored regardless of gender. It like the song, "money don't talk, it swears". To quote a professor in biology, neurology and neurological science, the biggest mistake a individual can do is to be born in the wrong socioeconomic class. If I know the trick for a person in the wrong socioeconomic class to get a massive au…

I have six years of college. I come from a secure family background that was more upper class than I realized. I thought my family was a bunch of poor working class stiffs. My mother's mother came from a low level German noble family. They sold the title when the family fell on hard times. I'm pretty damn upper class culturally. I'm just broke, in part because "no girls allowed in the old boys club." So I can't get a…

Feeling upper class culturally is nice and all, and drawing from the studies people done on stress management it could be very beneficially, but in the end if a person is dirt poor then that is their social economical class.

College is great, but here in Sweden anyone with the intellect can study for about as long they want to endure minimal income from the state, staying at a one room apartment and cook and eat the cheapest food. There are plenty of people here who been at college for 10+ years and have nothing to their name in terms of power and wealth. Because the state pay for college being in college don't convey any implied wealth. In Swedish culture, staying a long time in college can imply low social economic status.

The "self made man" is a myth. Economist, sociologists, and many other in other fields have reach that conclusion. Wealth and luck always pops up as the correlating traits to more wealth and influence. With wealth you can meet and get in contact with other people with wealth. With luck you can raise money. With money you can survive the eventual bad luck. It all goes around in that circle until you either end up in top or fall out.

You have 14k karma and I got 10k karma. I don't have 71% of that one person from HN that you got. No job offerings, no "social network" I can use to get attention for my projects, no followers or anything like it. My average karma score on comments is somewhere between 1 and 3. Life of a man is to be treated as unwanted unless you got money and power, otherwise no one want to even acknowledge your existence, or worse see you as a threat. Does that sound like the kind of thing that helps men exclusively succeed?

Re: Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich (2017)

#80

Post by KozmoNau7 »

mgamache wrote: post #12

These guys (and Women?) are at the extreme end of the economic and social hierarchy. The only thing that might endanger their position is if society collapses. Prepping is sort of an insurance policy against the long odds of society collapsing. All societies have collapsed and once the process starts it can happen quickly. They can devote the resources to guard against rare events, because they are already protected…

Maybe they should spend more effort on preventing societal collapse, rather than making haphazard plans for what to do when it happens.
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