> Rule of law, functioning government providing services

Jokes on them, without rule of law and functioning government to enforce it there is no ownership.

Jokes on you. When there isn't a functional system of government there is nothing to stop rich psychopaths from paying poor psychopaths killing those who get in there way and declaring themselves dictators.

In the absence of effective laws to align people in the direction of the society they want, and constant effort to realign in response to pressure, we will fall back to tribalism and all of the attendant forms of feudalism and government that came before it. Ownership then reverts to might (or those with the resources to buy might) makes right.

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swiftcoder 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> or those with the resources to buy might

This feels a bit like those rich survivalists who think they are going to fix bomb-collars to their bodyguards to ensure loyalty in the apocalypse... stock certificates aren't worth a whole lot in a world where the rule of law has broken down

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ygjb 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I said resources not money. Charisma, religion and promoting hate have empowered just as many psychopaths in history as wealth.

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swiftcoder 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Well, right, but I'm not sure the tech elites actually own much in the way of resources in that sense. Is the Apple fandom strong enough to get Tim Cook his own private army of zealots when society breaks down?

	▲	t-3 an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> Is the Apple fandom strong enough to get Tim Cook his own private army of zealots when society breaks down? Not when he has to compete for them with Zombie Steve.
	▲	j16sdiz 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Tim Cook might be not. One of the AI companies might. Imagine what one could do with an infinite Charisma, propaganda generating machine.
	▲	danans 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> Is the Apple fandom strong enough to get Tim Cook his own private army of zealots when society breaks down? Society won't break down (in the chaos sense) and resources will still be allocated. Power abhors a vacuum as they say. It's just that resources and power will controlled and distributed in an openly feudal way. Technology's egalitarian objectives will be replaced by overtly oligarchic ones. Tech fandom will be replaced with other identities constructed to gain access to real resources owned and controlled by the few.

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SoftTalker 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The problem for them is that in the US, "those who get in the way" are armed.

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yks 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

In societies like that, Silicon Valley’s rich nerds might discover that they’re not the ones with the real might, see Putin’s Russia, which many of them adore. Money is but one of the facets of power.

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jltsiren 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Russia is a country with a strong centralized government capable of enforcing laws whenever it wants.

In the absence of effective laws, one of the biggest threats to rich people would be their own hired thugs. If the thugs decide that they don't respect you and they would make better rich assholes, they will kill you and take your property. Historically, societies like that were often ruled by the biggest and the most charismatic thugs, who could command the respect of lesser thugs. Or warrior nobility, if you want a fancier term. Today's billionaire nerds would not be among those.

	▲	yks 13 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Russian state is a final form of the thug-centric governance. The economic oligarchs maintain their riches at the behest of thugs, but they don’t have the power nor freedom.
	▲	TheOtherHobbes 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		If I was a semi-rich thug boss I'd hire out my thugs as security to all the nervous billionaire nerds. Including cybersecurity. Then I could make a move whenever.
	▲	steveBK123 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It’s no accident that the schmoozer media/real estate/car dealer/mining/energy guys in US wield more power than their wealth relative to SV VC bros would seem to merit.

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729374929292 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Once the Democratic Workers' Republic of America and thus socialist utopia you have been begging for has been achieved, you neckbeard will emerge from your basement as supreme leader for life.