The Tool Desk
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What did Douglas Rushkoff say happened?
In a 2022 account reported by ABC News, Rushkoff said he was invited to meet five people from the upper tier of technology investing and hedge funds; ABC reported that at least two were billionaires. He said the conversation turned to how they might survive a possible social collapse. His account is a report of one meeting, not a survey of wealthy people.
Rushkoff said the group used “the event” as a euphemism for a breakdown of society. The scenarios he described included environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, an unstoppable virus, and a malicious computer hack. Reported questions included “New Zealand or Alaska?”, where existing bunkers might be found, and “How do I maintain authority over my security force after ‘the event’?” ABC’s account also described concern about how guards could be paid if cryptocurrency became worthless. ABC News, October 20, 2022
What kinds of preparations have been reported?
Retreats, supplies, and security
Rushkoff’s Guardian essay recounts discussion of guards and food security, as well as whether robots could take on security or other work. These details point to the practical dependencies of a private retreat: protection, food, labor, and a way to sustain arrangements when ordinary systems fail. They remain part of Rushkoff’s account of that meeting. The Guardian, September 4, 2022
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Journalist Evan Osnos has separately described wealthy people in Silicon Valley and finance worrying about pandemics, earthquakes, civil unrest, and temporary failures of government systems. His 2017 interview discussed stockpiling food, water, and ammunition, and the Survival Condo Project, a former missile silo converted into a residential retreat. Claims about the facility’s capabilities and how long it could operate were Osnos’s account of the developer’s claims, not independent engineering verification. Fresh Air / WHYY, October 24, 2017
A New Zealand example—with an important limit
ABC also reported on Peter Thiel’s New Zealand land and a proposed lodge. The local council rejected the plan in 2022; the proposal should not be described as a completed retreat.
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What does Rushkoff mean by “The Mindset”?
Rushkoff uses “The Mindset” to interpret the meeting: an outlook in which wealthy people seek to use money and technology to escape consequences they may help create. In ABC’s interview, he described it as asking “how much money and technology do I need to escape from the reality that I’m creating, by using money and technology in this way.” This is Rushkoff’s analysis of the encounter, not a verified explanation of every billionaire’s motives. His book, Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, develops that account and interpretation; it is not independent evidence of how common such preparations are.
How widespread is billionaire doomsday preparation?
The reports describe multiple concerns and examples, but they do not provide a representative count or survey. The five people in Rushkoff’s meeting—and ABC’s report that at least two were billionaires—cannot establish what share of billionaires are preparing for societal collapse. The evidence supports saying that some wealthy people have considered retreats, supplies, or security for severe disruptions; it does not support calling this a measured trend among billionaires generally.
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Private escape plans versus shared preparedness
A private retreat is aimed at protecting a small group through a particular disruption. Its viability may depend on staff, supplies, security, and systems that remain available. Broader preparedness asks a different question: how well can communities and public institutions maintain essential services and help people through a crisis? The reporting does not measure which approach works better. It does make clear that a plan relying on guards, food, or technology raises questions about how those dependencies would hold up when society is under strain.
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