
‘We Needed to Go’: Rich Americans Activate Pandemic Escape Plans - AndrewBissell
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-19/-we-needed-to-go-rich-americans-activate-pandemic-escape-plans
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gdubs
Ok, finally seems like the right place to share my pitch for a _Silicon
Valley_ spin-off:

Gavin Belsom, and a bunch of other billionaires, flee to New Zealand only to
find it’s crowded with all of the people they know (and despise). So now
they’re stuck with each other.

It’s like Galt’s Gulch from _Atlas Shrugged_ meets _Gilligan’s Island_.

First episode ends with someone coughing, cuts to Belsom’s distraught face,
obscure hip-hop track plays.

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ForHackernews
It's kind of telling that these billionaires think it's easier (or at least
cheaper?) to flee than invest in maintaining a functioning civil society. I
guess they're hoping that somebody else (kiwis, apparently) has done that work
elsewhere.

~~~
splintercell
I have always questioned this claim. I feel like this is a manipulative
behavior modification aspect of an abusive relationship. Give us some of your
money or else will forcefully take it from you.

But let's study it from a historical point of view, what reasons do we have to
believe that a strategy like that would work? Alexander II, Czar of Russia,
the grandfather of Tsar Nicolas, instigated a lot of drastic land reforms, he
eliminated serfdom from Russia, but the revolution happened nonetheless. In
fact he himself was killed by the revolutionaries.

It would have been far far cheaper an easier for Tsars to have invested in an
escape route.

~~~
throwaway6575
>I feel like this is a manipulative behavior modification aspect of an abusive
relationship. Give us some of your money

"your" money

>It would have been far far cheaper an easier for Tsars to have invested in an
escape route.

They did actually.

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pdkl95
> “Obviously the coronavirus is making people realize how vulnerable we all
> are, but what people are really concerned about is the aftermath,” said
> Vicino, the Vivos founder, who believes the wealthy fear an economic
> collapse or global depression could lead to uprisings against the top 1%.
> “They don't want to have to defend their homes when the gangs of looters or
> marauders show up.”

Apparently some wealthy people view the coronavirus pandemic as "The Event"
they have been preparing for. From this[1] article:

> I got invited to a super-deluxe private resort to deliver a keynote speech
> ... to deliver some insight on the subject of “the future of technology” ...
> my audience ... five super-wealthy guys ... from the upper echelon of the
> hedge fund world. ... They had no interest in the information I had prepared
> about the future of technology. They had come with questions of their own.

> [After a few innocent questions], the CEO of a brokerage house explained
> that he had nearly completed building his own underground bunker system and
> asked, “How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?”

> The Event. That was their euphemism for the environmental collapse, social
> unrest, nuclear explosion, unstoppable virus, or Mr. Robot hack that takes
> everything down.

> This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed
> guards would be required to protect their compounds from the angry mobs. But
> how would they pay the guards once money was worthless? What would stop the
> guards from choosing their own leader? The billionaires considered using
> special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making
> guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival.
> Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers - if that technology
> could be developed in time.

[1] [https://onezero.medium.com/survival-of-the-
richest-9ef6cddd0...](https://onezero.medium.com/survival-of-the-
richest-9ef6cddd0cc1)

~~~
drapred7
No one asking a question like that should be allowed to own anything in my
country.

~~~
splintercell
Other than saltiness, what's the rationale behind making a statement like
that?

~~~
dkersten
Not the person you replied to but my guess is because if your priority is to
maintain your authority, instead of doing something useful for society, then
maybe you’re unfit for having the authority to begin with?

~~~
splintercell
And this is why the Mexican standoff between the elites and the common people
exists. You think that you have a right to dictate when someone can own
something or not, so people who own something invest in ensuring that they
maintained the right to own something.

~~~
cylinder
Are you kidding me? I presume that the referenced poster is an NZ citizen. NZ
is a democracy. (S)he has every right to express an opinion about who is able
to become a resident or citizen of their country, as well as decide who can
own its land. In fact non-NZ residents/citizens are not allowed to buy
property in the country.

~~~
splintercell
Just to be clear I think it's a terrible idea for Americans to go to another
country, because here in America our founding fathers realized it 243 years
ago that a democracy cannot be given all the power at once and that it must be
curtailed, that's why they created a Bill of Rights.

> I presume that the reference poster is...

I don't think that the comment I was responding to was talking about New
Zealand oh, but a general Democratic principle.

------
cylinder
they love running stories like but it's actually nonsense, and there's no
evidence of it happening, as the article itself admits at the end. the crypto
guy quoted here sounds like a clown.

you don't need to hide in NZ. going with NZ just adds significant layers of
complexity and risk, as we have seen now - orders can be closed to non-
residents and citizens as NZ and AU have done now; airlines can cancel flights
due to lack of demand leaving you stuck. In addition if you get to south
island NZ you do not need to hide underground. You'll be fine above.

Just buy some land in Idaho in hilly/mountainous areas, I promise nobody is
going to bother looting you there, and you can always drive there from CA if
you need to.

