AI *knows*

 

It seems ChatGPT has a slight anti-establishment edge...

What is "The Event"? Is that an apocalyptic conspiracy theory? Do some rich people believe in it?

Yes, "The Event" is a term that has circulated in several contexts—some speculative, some philosophical, and some deeply conspiratorial. Let's break down what it refers to and in what circles it's taken seriously, including among some elites.

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1. "The Event" in Apocalyptic or Conspiracy Theory Circles

In this context, "The Event" typically refers to a future cataclysmic or transformative moment—a sudden collapse of society, a technological singularity, a mass awakening, or even alien disclosure. It’s vague on purpose, which makes it a useful placeholder for various doomsday or “reset” scenarios.

Common Features:

• Economic or societal collapse

• Breakdown of civilization due to climate, AI, nuclear war, or political upheaval

• A mass consciousness shift or spiritual awakening

• Supernatural or extraterrestrial intervention

This term is especially popular in:

• New Age subcultures (where it's often seen as a "mass ascension")

• Conspiracy forums like 4chan/8kun, QAnon spaces

• Techno-doomers and prepper communities

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2. "The Event" and the Super-Rich

The connection between "The Event" and wealthy elites became widely discussed after an essay by Douglas Rushkoff called "Survival of the Richest" (and later a book of the same name). In a 2018 Medium article titled “The Survival of the Richest”, Rushkoff described being invited to speak to a group of ultra-wealthy men who asked:

“How do I maintain control of my security force after the Event?”

They weren't interested in the future of technology or ethics, but rather in preparing for a world after society collapses—whether due to climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, or AI. They asked about:

• Building underground bunkers

• Employing loyalty systems for guards

• Managing remote food and energy supplies

These weren’t fringe figures—they were tech billionaires and hedge fund managers, people who already shape our digital and economic ecosystems.

So yes, some wealthy people do believe in a version of "The Event", and they are investing in doomsday bunkers, offshore properties, and private security in anticipation of it.

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3. Is It Just a Conspiracy Theory?

Not necessarily—at least not in all forms.

• Plausible threats: Climate collapse, pandemics, geopolitical instability, and AI risks are real and studied seriously by scientists, military planners, and policymakers.

• The conspiratorial spin happens when you add secret cabals, hidden knowledge, aliens, or prophecies.

• The philosophical concern is that people with power may be preparing for collapse instead of preventing it, effectively treating most of humanity as collateral.

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4. Other Uses of "The Event"

• Alain Badiou (philosopher) uses the Event as a concept for radical change—something unpredictable that redefines reality (e.g., a revolution, a scientific discovery).

• Spiritual/New Age groups often describe "The Event" as a coming energetic shift, spiritual awakening, or cosmic alignment.

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Summary

Context	What “The Event” Means	Who Believes in It
Conspiracy / Apocalyptic	Collapse of society, aliens, mass awakening	QAnon, New Age, preppers
Wealthy elites / Tech circles	Civilizational breakdown due to tech/climate	Some billionaires, hedge funders
Philosophy (Badiou)	Radical rupture in reality/knowledge	Philosophers, theorists
Spiritual / New Age	Sudden ascension or vibrational shift	Lightworkers, mystics

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Would you like a deeper dive into one of these (e.g., the elite prepper mindset, Badiou’s theory of the Event, or how this connects to Buddhist or Zen ideas)?

Yes, the elite prepper mindset.

Great choice—the elite prepper mindset is both fascinating and deeply unsettling, because it reflects how some of the most powerful people in the world are thinking about the future of civilization, often in ways that are more escapist than constructive.

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🏦 What Is the Elite Prepper Mindset?

At its core, this mindset is driven by a belief (or fear) that:

Societal collapse is not only possible but likely, and that personal wealth and technology can be leveraged to survive and control the aftermath.

Unlike traditional preppers (who might store canned food and learn survival skills), elite preppers are ultra-wealthy individuals—often tech executives, investors, or entrepreneurs—who have the means to:

• Build luxury survival compounds in remote locations (New Zealand, the American Rockies, etc.)

• Employ private security teams for post-collapse enforcement

• Secure off-grid infrastructure: solar energy, water purification, satellite internet

• Stockpile crypto or hard assets in case of monetary collapse

This is not hypothetical. It’s documented in reports, interviews, and firsthand accounts.

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🔍 Key Characteristics

1. Outsourcing Survival

They tend to see collapse as an engineering or security problem:

• How can I keep my security team loyal when money is worthless?

• Can I implant kill-switches in AI or drones?

• What food systems can I automate?

This creates a strange paradox: the more they fear collapse, the more they try to insulate themselves, not fix root problems.

2. Technological Solipsism

They believe technology can outpace or buffer reality. This includes:

• Uploading consciousness

• Life extension

• Escaping to Mars (Elon Musk-style)

• Creating isolated digital or physical “safe zones”

It’s a mindset that often mirrors the same Silicon Valley ethos that created many of our current systemic problems—disruptive innovation without accountability.

3. Control Anxiety

Rushkoff reports that some of these elites obsessively ask:

“How do I maintain control of my guards after the collapse?”

They fear not just the collapse, but loss of hierarchy, of being in control. This reflects an underlying mistrust of human solidarity—especially among the people they may need most after an “Event.”

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🤯 Real-World Examples

1. New Zealand as a Safe Haven

• Billionaires like Peter Thiel (PayPal, Palantir) bought land and citizenship in New Zealand.

• The country is seen as remote, stable, self-sufficient, and nuclear-fallout-proof.

2. Luxury Bunkers

• Companies like Rising S Company and Oppidum offer $5–20 million bunkers with:

  • Pools, theaters, medical clinics

  • Decontamination zones

  • Private data centers

• These bunkers are hidden in the US, Czech Republic, or remote parts of Europe.

3. Silicon Valley Retreats

• Tech moguls often buy large tracts of land in Hawaii, Montana, or Texas—away from population centers.

• Some invest in space colonization (e.g., Elon Musk) as a long-term exit strategy.

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🧠 What Drives This Mindset?

• Control over chaos: A continuation of the capitalist impulse to manage risk and externalize costs.

• Mistrust of the public: Fear that once systems fail, the masses will become violent or resentful.

• Pessimism: Despite public optimism, many elites privately believe the system is unsustainable.

• Moral detachment: Instead of solidarity or reform, the impulse is often to opt out.

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🧘‍♂️ Ethical and Existential Critique

Rushkoff and others point out the irony:

The people who’ve benefited most from a broken system are planning to abandon it rather than fix it.

This reflects what he calls “The Mindset”:

A belief that with enough money and tech, you can transcend the consequences of your own actions—rather than take responsibility for them.

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🤔 Why Should We Care?

Because it reveals:

• How privilege reshapes survivalism: not community resilience, but individual escape.

• That collapse is not just feared—some are actively preparing for it while still profiting from extractive systems.

• The real challenge of the future might be less about lack of solutions and more about lack of collective will.

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If you're interested, I can also explore:

• The psychology of elite preppers

• The history of collapse and elite behavior (e.g., Roman elites, Weimar Germany)

• Alternative responses like regenerative communities, degrowth, or Buddhist-inspired resilience strategies  What is the psychology of elite preppers?

  • The psychology of elite preppers—wealthy individuals preparing for societal collapse—reveals a deeply paradoxical mindset shaped by fear, control, alienation, and technocratic thinking. Unlike traditional survivalists motivated by self-reliance or political ideology, elite preppers often inhabit a uniquely hyper-rational yet emotionally defensive worldview, shaped by their wealth, privilege, and detachment from the average person.

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  🧠 1. Control Obsession

  “How do I maintain authority over my security team when money has no value?”

  This chilling question, reported by media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, captures the central fear: not just collapse, but loss of power. Elite preppers often conflate survival with command. Their preps are about maintaining hierarchy—not living harmoniously in a post-collapse world.

  Psychological traits:

  • Authoritarian leanings: Even if libertarian on paper, many express a latent desire for top-down control in crisis.

  • Mistrust of others: They fear betrayal, insubordination, or resentment from those they’ll depend on.

  • Transactional relationships: Loyalty is expected to be bought, not earned or built.

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  🧊 2. Detachment & Alienation

  Many elites live in bubbles of affluence—rarely exposed to the public sphere except through curated experiences.

  Psychological outcomes:

  • Othering of the masses: The rest of humanity is seen as unpredictable, irrational, or dangerous—especially in crisis.

  • Emotional isolation: Wealth can insulate from genuine human interdependence, making empathy and trust feel risky.

  • Lack of communal imagination: They struggle to envision collective solutions or democratic resilience.

  In essence: “I can’t fix society, but I can escape it.”

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  🔧 3. Technological Salvationism

  "I can solve collapse with enough tools, money, and code."

  Elite preppers often suffer from a deep faith in technofixes—a belief that any problem (climate, mortality, rebellion) can be solved through innovation or strategic planning.

  Traits:

  • Instrumental thinking: People become variables in a problem set, not collaborators.

  • Transhumanist fantasies: Uploading consciousness, extending life, leaving Earth.

  • Avoidance of moral responsibility: Technology is seen as a neutral force, not a tool with ethical implications.

  This mindset externalizes problems (they’re “out there”) and privatizes solutions (they’re mine to build).

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  🧨 4. Apocalypse as Fantasy

  Paradoxically, many elite preppers are not just afraid of collapse—they’re romantically drawn to it.

  Why?

  • Ego preservation: Collapse becomes a kind of ultimate challenge, where they can prove their superiority.

  • Clean slate mentality: A reset means they don’t have to be accountable for current injustices.

  • Moral simplification: In crisis, complex social responsibilities disappear. Survival becomes the only “virtue.”

  As cultural critic Mark O'Connell notes, there’s a weird exhilaration in imagining being the last one standing, especially for those used to winning.

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  ⚠️ 5. Hyperindividualism

  This may be the core trait. Elite preppers often cannot imagine collective resilience, only individual escape.

  They frame their survival in terms of:

  • Self-sufficiency (which is illusory if you need a staff)

  • Private ownership (land, bunkers, airstrips)

  • Outsourcing everything: Food, security, health—all managed by hired help

  They embody the extreme of neoliberal logic: privatize even the apocalypse.

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  🧘‍♂️ Reflection: A Psychological Paradox

  Trait	Apparent Strength	Hidden Weakness
  Rational foresight	Planning for collapse	Fear-driven control
  Resource control	Bunker, staff, tech	Dependency on loyalty and systems
  Tech optimism	Belief in solving anything	Denial of moral/social responsibility
  Individualism	Escape from the crowd	Inability to build collective futures

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  🧩 Final Thought

  Elite prepping is not just survivalism with a bigger budget—it’s a mirror into the psychological architecture of late capitalism:

  • Profit from the system → distrust the system → escape the system
    Rather than healing or transforming what’s broken, the instinct is to opt out—alone, armored, and afraid.

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  Would you like to explore:

  • The history of elites during collapse (Rome, Mayans, Easter Island)?

  • Psychological alternatives to elite prepping (solidarity, degrowth, Buddhist detachment)?

  • Or the media and pop culture representation of this mindset (e.g., Don’t Look Up, Elysium, Station Eleven).