There will be a moment where the government will depend so much on the tech that if the tech cuts the supply, they are f...

Who do you think will rule at that point? They just cannot fight that, they do not have the technology these companies have.

"We have every location associated with you in the crosshairs of tamper proof missiles and surrounded by infantry with heavy vehicles. Do what we say or we will destroy you and everything you care about."

And that's just the most obvious one. There are many other kinds of threats which are much more subtle.

That is how governments traditionally stay in charge, and I expect the pattern to continue. Citizens simply don't have access to the levels of destruction the state is capable of, by design. They can have all the advanced technology they want, so long as it doesn't threaten our leaders' monopoly on violence.

We meaningfully passed that point decades ago.

You think all those lawyers and bar tenders and whatever MTG was serving in Congress are out there tilling fields and sewing shirts? Nope. Without that tech they are f...

"They"

Who are you talking about? Because if you haven't noticed the people in charge now will die.

Most of the Fortune 500 of the 1900s have been gone for decades. The olds are vastly outnumbered by youth who either hate them or wouldn't mind just getting to beat someone who can't fight back up

With measles and food contamination going wild now it's just as likely the rich and pols kill themselves.

There is no beating physics and Elon, Thiel, and such rely on a lot of people to do the work for them. If society implodes all bets are off. Their wealth is coupled to legitimacy of America. Those body guards aren't going to abandon families for a broke former billionaire

There's no upside for the rich is things implode or the divide is not believed to exist; they become common rabble and get a pick axe too

The rich and politicians are just stupid meat suits too. They misread a room and screw up alot

In that situation, it depends how much physical force the government has to compel the tech leader, and how much physical force the tech leader has to counter it.

Usually, the number of bodies who will comply is the proxy for power, but with automation, it could be different in the near future.

https://xkcd.com/538/