Will Billionaires Survive a true Apocalypse?

[The Heretic]

Then you have people like Jay Leno who appears to like working on his own cars in his collection... as well as having people working for him.. and Richard from Gas Monkey Garage who's famously a relatively rich jerk, but works and have people work on the old cars he buys and sells.

Certainly they have hobbies and enjoy them.

I used to work on machines as a means to support myself, not as a hobby.

I can fix many machines, not just automobiles. I was trained to know how turbines work, refrigeration, plumbing, steam systems and so on. I can pilot a 32 ton MLB while towing a 150 ton fishing boat. I have a two year degree in ag & industrial equipment and worked for a while repairing those machines. I also have a EE degree and worked in that domain for a while. I can weld/cut/machine/heat treat metals. I can wire up building electrical systems. I can do simple carpentry. I can hunt and process the game I harvest.

That and more - or at least I used to be able to do much of that - some of it I haven't done in decades.

But I prefer to pay others to do it. Much of it is a chore and not a hobby, and my health isn't what it used to be. I now pay someone to change the oil in my daily driver. I don't hunt anymore because of my back injury makes walking any real distance painful, and my heart makes it a real risk that I will collapse somewhere remote - so I buy my meat.

I don't do those things for myself because I get no enjoyment out of doing them, and it is just too much work and sometimes pain.

 

[Koda]

Lots of stereotyping rich people here, but note everyone in the room owns at least 1 gun and mostly likely more guns than they need.... are "rich" to many more people who look "up" at us and think "it must be nice...."

 

[I594 Sucks]

While they have a lot of hoarded resources to their benefit, I still believe the "service" staff (their helicopter pilots, security guards, etc) will turn on them once money no longer has value and it'll be game over for most/all of them. I mean, what value would they have to contribute without money? What do others think?

It was the billionaires who built this world we currently live in, and it will likely be the billionaires who re-build it, after the apocalypse.

Yes, it will require laborers, but without guidance from industrialists, all that available labor will be for naught.

The novel "Atlas Shrugged" lays out a good case for this...even if it IS fiction.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

It was the billionaires who built this world we currently live in, and it will likely be the billionaires who re-build it, after the apocalypse.

Yes, it will require laborers, but without guidance from industrialists, all that available labor will be for naught.

The novel "Atlas Shrugged" lays out a good case for this...even if it IS fiction.

For those of you that haven't read the works of the drug adicted welfare queen, here is a quick sumation:

All the oligarchs get tired of how they are being treated with disrespect so they dip out to private retreats leaving the nation without CEO's, company presidents and "job creators" and society falls apart and begs them to come back to save everyone. Turns out we accidently found out that is 180* from reality and we can function fine without them and the folks we really need are the line cooks, truck drivers, maids, trash collectors and all the minimum wage people. those are the people we need to keep society going

 

[Soli]

For those of you that haven't read the works of the drug adicted welfare queen, here is a quick sumation:

All the oligarchs get tired of how they are being treated with disrespect so they dip out to private retreats leaving the nation without CEO's, company presidents and "job creators" and society falls apart and begs them to come back to save everyone. Turns out we accidently found out that is 180* from reality and we can function fine without them and the folks we really need are the line cooks, truck drivers, maids, trash collectors and all the minimum wage people. those are the people we need to keep society going

Reminds me of a book report I gave in 4th grade. I hadn't read the book, but got called on and got up and said a whole lot of words about it. I got an 'F'.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Reminds me of a book report I gave in 4th grade. I hadn't read the book, but got called on and got up and said a whole lot of words about it. I got an 'F'.

Difference is that I read the book. Sure, I took some liberties with my "book report" but I captured the spirit

 

[Certaindeaf]

For those of you that haven't read the works of the drug adicted welfare queen, here is a quick sumation:

All the oligarchs get tired of how they are being treated with disrespect so they dip out to private retreats leaving the nation without CEO's, company presidents and "job creators" and society falls apart and begs them to come back to save everyone. Turns out we accidently found out that is 180* from reality and we can function fine without them and the folks we really need are the line cooks, truck drivers, maids, trash collectors and all the minimum wage people. those are the people we need to keep society going

Leftist playbook?

 

[Member 66129]

@arakboss, how many profiles do you have!?

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

Leftist playbook?

Huh?

 

[Stomper]

 

[Stomper]

For those of you that haven't read the works of the drug adicted welfare queen, here is a quick sumation:

All the oligarchs get tired of how they are being treated with disrespect so they dip out to private retreats leaving the nation without CEO's, company presidents and "job creators" and society falls apart and begs them to come back to save everyone. Turns out we accidently found out that is 180* from reality and we can function fine without them and the folks we really need are the line cooks, truck drivers, maids, trash collectors and all the minimum wage people. those are the people we need to keep society going

Leftist playbook?

I'm more of an "Atlas Shrugged" kinda guy….

 

[The Heretic]

It was the billionaires who built this world we currently live in, and it will likely be the billionaires who re-build it, after the apocalypse.

Yes, it will require laborers, but without guidance from industrialists, all that available labor will be for naught.

The novel "Atlas Shrugged" lays out a good case for this...even if it IS fiction.

Talk about stereotypes!

Sure, maybe the railroad barons made cross country transport possible, and shipping barons before them, but there are also billionaires who do nothing but buy up stock of corporations just to tear them apart and sell off the pieces - I've seen this happen to a number of companies I've worked for, and others. Then there are the CEOs who run a company into the ground, take their golden parachute and move on.

I don't know the inside history of every corporation or billionaire, but I would bet that for every small corporation somebody built up from the ground into a going concern, there was a someone with a lot of $ who came along, invested enough to take the concern away from the person with the good idea and the effort to make it into something. Or, like MS, Google and others, bought out small competitors to take them off the market, or ran them into the ground with patent or trademark lawsuits (like Apple is doing with a fruit company).

Money to build something isn't everything - yes, it does take the machinist, engineer, the craftsmen, plumber, carpenter, even the janitors to make this country what it is. Without them, the billionaires couldn't get much done.

 

[Stomper]

LOL… I strongly suspect @Andy54Hawken gets me.

 

[Stomper]

Talk about stereotypes!

Sure, maybe the railroad barons made cross country transport possible, and shipping barons before them, but there are also billionaires who do nothing but buy up stock of corporations just to tear them apart and sell off the pieces - I've seen this happen to a number of companies I've worked for, and others. Then there are the CEOs who run a company into the ground, take their golden parachute and move on.

I don't know the inside history of every corporation or billionaire, but I would bet that for every small corporation somebody built up from the ground into a going concern, there was a someone with a lot of $ who came along, invested enough to take the concern away from the person with the good idea and the effort to make it into something. Or, like MS, Google and others, bought out small competitors to take them off the market, or ran them into the ground with patent or trademark lawsuits (like Apple is doing with a fruit company).

Money to build something isn't everything - yes, it does take the machinist, engineer, the craftsmen, plumber, carpenter, even the janitors to make this country what it is. Without them, the billionaires couldn't get much done.

That's a fact. The owners of the company I work for, and the clients we provide a service for are multi-multi- millionaires, and they seek out and listen to what I (a multi-hundred-thousandaire) advise them on concerning my field(s) of expertise.

They're masters of their craft, they pay me WELL because I've mastered my craft(s) and have consistently come through for them.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

LOL… I strongly suspect @Andy54Hawken gets me.

Well yes , I do....Wait what do I get you...?
Andy

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

I'm more of an "Atlas Shrugged" kinda guy….

I'm more than happy to go off on that pile of poop as well!

 

[Stomper]

Well yes , I do....Wait what do I get you...?
Andy

Well, definitely not THIS….

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Well, definitely not THIS….

Whew...!
How 'bout this....

Andy

 

[Stomper]

I'm more than happy to go off on that pile of poop as well!

Well, you have fun with that, poop-meister.

 

[The Heretic]

That's a fact. The owners of the company I work for, and the clients we provide a service for are multi-multi- millionaires, and they seek out and listen to what I (a multi-hundred-thousandaire) advise them on concerning my field(s) of expertise.

They're masters of their craft, they pay me WELL because I've mastered my craft(s) and have consistently come through for them.

That was my biggest problem with management; they paid me 6 figure salaries for my expertise in something they could not do themselves (or would not deign to do), but when I told them something they didn't like, or didn't want to hear, they would ignore it and it would inevitably cause them problems later. At DTNA, it cost them millions to ignore our advice - but when push came to shove, it was us that got laid off and not the management. DTNA had way to many management layers and personnel, all of which had their little fiefdoms and pet projects they proposed to get them promotions and pay raises.