Professor and author Douglas Rushkoff (@douglasrushkoff) joins me on Passion Struck with John R. Miles to discuss how human behavior has become controlled by technology, as the “Mindset” of the obscenely wealthy is pushing us towards a world where they scale money infinitely, resulting in a fractured system with enormous wealth and income inequality.
Douglas and I cover his new book, โSurvival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires.” We discuss why the tech elite are building a secret plan to survive the “event.” And our need to collectively break away from our financial and technological systems that are now the greatest threats to our collective well-being.
–โบ Purchase Survival of the Richest: https://amzn.to/3S3YMTi (Amazon Link)
And the question that ended up taking up the majority of the hour was how do I (the tech billionaire) maintain control of my security staff once my money is worthless?
Douglas Rushkoff
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Enjoy!
In This Episode, Douglas Rushkoff and I Discuss His New Book Survival of the Richest
Todayโs episode is a bit different from the ones we typically do on the show. Douglas and I will talk today about what the super-rich have termed “the event.” Their euphemism for environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, unstoppable virus, or malicious computer hack that takes everything down.
According to Douglas, tech billionaires are preparing for this event by configuring their doomsday bunkers. But todayโs podcast isnโt only about this, it is about the impact of the future of technology. Itโs about the future of humanity and the need to unite intentionally to solve the worldโs issues.
- How a small group of tech billionaires wanted to know how best to prepare for the โeventโโthe crisis that destroys civilization.
- The biggest question they had on their minds was not what you think it is.
- Why do the tech elite believe they can somehow outrun the catastrophes of their own making?
- Why, when tech billionaires run out of ideas, resources, or people on one level, they go meta.
- Why donโt the super wealthy identify with the pain or emotions of others?
- Why we donโt have to surrender to the idea that the planet is doomed and only the wealthy will survive.
- Have any questions, comments, or stories youโd like to share? Drop us a line at [email protected]m!
- And much moreโฆ
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More From My Interview With Douglas Rushkoff On Survival of the Richest
During the Passion Struck podcast interview, I asked Douglas about the tech elite’s “mindset” and its prevalence.
Douglas Rushkoff explains, “I mean, it’s pretty prevalent in some ways. It’s contagious. The mindset, most simply, is this kind of tech billionaire’s belief that with enough money and technology, they can escape the catastrophes that they’re creating with money and technology. It’s the idea that you can somehow build a car that can escape its own exhaust. It just doesn’t work.
I couldn’t believe I just read this great article by Cory Doctorow about the Epson printer company. How they make these printers that seize up after a certain number of pages automatically. They lock so that you have to buy a new printer, and they have some excuse that there’s a specific part that might wear out, and they’re worried for you. So they just locked the computer and don’t let you replace the part.
And I’m thinking of the guy at the company who makes that decision. He’s aware of climate change. He knows what’s going on. Yet he can say, ‘I think I can make more money, selling extra printers to people, then the damage is going to cause me I’m going to have enough money to escape somehow what I’m doing to the rest of the world.’
And that mindset in some ways trickles down to all of us, but particularly at times, like COVID, when we’re like, maybe I’m just gonna stay home, get an Amazon doorbell with a little camera, get Fresh Direct, and then GrubHub and DoorDash and Amazon Prime. I’m gonna kind of hold it out.
But yeah, the mindset is really a hubris that somehow you can escape the externalities of your own kind of misdeeds.
Thanks, Douglas Rushkoff!
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Resources From The Show With Douglas Rushkoff
Please note that some of the links on this page (books, movies, music, etc.) lead to affiliate programs for which The Passion Struck podcast receives compensation. Itโs just one of the ways we keep the lights on around here. Thank you so much for being so supportive!
- Website: https://rushkoff.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douglasrushkoff/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rushkoff
- Team Human Podcast: https://www.teamhuman.fm/
- Medium: https://medium.com/@rushkoff
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/rushkoff/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rushkoff/
- My solo episode on whether or not free will exists: https://passionstruck.com/does-the-concept-of-free-will-really-exist/
- My interview with Seth Godin on why we need systems to change to save the planet and address climate change: https://passionstruck.com/seth-godin-we-need-systems-change-save-planet/.
- My interview with Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and Dr. Jordan Feingold on Choosing Growth and transcending self-doubt, fear, and anxiety: https://passionstruck.com/jordyn-feingold-scott-barry-kaufman-chose-growth/
- My interview with Dr. Katy Milkman on the behavior science behind how we change: https://passionstruck.com/katy-milkman-behavior-change-for-good/
- My solo episode on why micro choices matter: https://passionstruck.com/why-your-micro-choices-determine-your-life/
About Todayโs Guest Douglas Rushkoff
Named one of the โworldโs ten most influential intellectualsโ by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age.
His twenty books include the upcoming Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the bestsellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool.
His book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.
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John R. Miles is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Passion Struck. This full-service media company helps people live intentionally by creating best-in-class educational and entertainment content. John is also a prolific public speaker, venture capitalist, and author named to the ComputerWorld Top 100 IT Leaders.
John is the host of the PassionStruckPodcast. The show focused on exploring the mindset and philosophy of the worldโs most inspiring people to learn their lessons to living intentionally. Passion Struck aspires to speak to the humanity of people in a way that makes them want to live better, be better and impact.
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