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   Cory Doctorow (pluralistic@mamot.fr)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 10:26:52 JST Cory Doctorow

   The core of the prepper fantasy: "What if the world ended in the *precise* way that made *me* the most important person?" The ultra-rich fantasize about emerging from luxury bunkers with an army of mercs and bitcoin thumbdrives to a world in ruins that they rule using their "leadership skills."

   --

   If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

   https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/25/mall-ninja-prophecy/#mano-a-mano

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   • anban repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     GhostOnTheHalfShell (ghostonthehalfshell@masto.ai)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 11:11:14 JST GhostOnTheHalfShell

     in reply to

     @pluralistic

     Oh, this will end up well. They’ve all been playing a little little bit too much fallout. 😶

   • Embed this notice
     Luna chan (luna@mastodon.world)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 11:59:12 JST Luna chan

     in reply to

     @pluralistic If society collapse thier money would be worthless so rhose mercs would turn on them.

   • Embed this notice
     WhistlerInTheDarkAges (whistlerinthedarkages@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 11:59:26 JST WhistlerInTheDarkAges

     in reply to

     @pluralistic Great point about individualism, which seems to be the core of much more than just prepperism. It has become a fantasy to not need anyone else; I’ve come to think of it as our legacy from ancient Greece. I’ll put in a plug here too for Naomi Alderman’s The Future, which turns this on its ear in a clever way.

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 13:16:06 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     • Luna chan

     @Luna @pluralistic Yes. The worst thing about these types is not that they'll ever have any power in such a scenario but that they'll involuntarily transfer all the power they had during a functional society into the basest most violent shitheads they stupidly think will be serving them.

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 13:17:09 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     • Luna chan

     @Luna @pluralistic ...which is basically the Russian system.

   • Embed this notice
     Aphrodite ☑️ :boost_ok: (aphrodite@chaos.social)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 13:31:11 JST Aphrodite ☑️ :boost_ok:

     in reply to

     @pluralistic

     It’s fascinating to observe these folks.

     I admit to a little of a “prepper” mindset but I focus on building community since every disaster makes us naturally go to our true nature as prosocial communitarian beings.

     And baking bread.

     Nothing like fresh bread to start to feel human after a disaster. (Assuming no gluten issues of course.)

     Cory Doctorow repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 13:52:14 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Aphrodite ☑️ :boost_ok:

     @Aphrodite
     I recommend this @naomikritzer short story:

     https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/

     It’s very much what you’re talking about, and serves as a counterpoint to the kinds of fantasies @pluralistic is discussing.

   • Embed this notice
     Cory Doctorow (pluralistic@mamot.fr)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 14:10:52 JST Cory Doctorow

     in reply to

     • Aphrodite ☑️ :boost_ok:
     • Paul Cantrell

     @inthehands @Aphrodite @naomikritzer always read Kritzer

   • Embed this notice
     Delta Sierra (notthatdelta@furry.engineer)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 14:56:36 JST Delta Sierra

     in reply to

     @pluralistic bookmarking this, so I can share it with the next person who (incorrectly) labels me a prepper (yes, I have a generator and fuel/food/water reserves; it's also not unusual to be snowed in for up to a week here).

     Really intriguing breakdown of the mindset behind behavior I've always found bizarre, thank you!

   • Embed this notice
     Nicole Parsons (npars01@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 15:25:46 JST Nicole Parsons

     in reply to

     @pluralistic

     https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/who-controls-the-us-political-system

     "Socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the rest."

     The malign influence narrative that "joint problems cannot be solved jointly" has to be one of the most successfully pervasive myths by conservatives...
     https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/01/02/trump-tax-cuts-action-socialism-rich/

     https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/opinion/us-capitalism-socialism.html

     https://robertreich.org/post/186831208915

     https://prospect.org/economy/myth-rugged-individual/

     https://www.inequalitymedia.org/the-myth-of-the-rugged-individual

     https://www.salon.com/2019/08/11/robert-reich-the-myth-of-the-rugged-individual_partner/

     That myth ended social mobility in the USA
     https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/13/american-dream-broken-upward-mobility-us

   • Embed this notice
     Madeleine Morris (remittancegirl@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 17:32:03 JST Madeleine Morris

     in reply to

     @pluralistic One of the things I believe really need to be unpacked is the psychological follow-on of people who start investing significant amounts into an end of world scenario. Suddenly the sunk-cost fallacy is reflected in all their decision-making. While this is problematic for preppers in general, because they often divest themselves of real relationships in the here and now, it's far worse for billionaires whose decisions affect the lives of millions.

   • Embed this notice
     Julie Goldberg (julie@social.coop)'s status on Monday, 25-Nov-2024 20:04:01 JST Julie Goldberg

     in reply to

     @pluralistic Survivalism is a collection of absurd delusions.
     We survive together, or not at all.
     https://perfectwhole.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/survivalism/