Is This A Good Life

I'm sure some of this is just down to Musk's increasing paranoia, and not really necessary, but generally it is the life that our glorious billionaires aren't just having to accept but are actively attempting to hasten. 

Mr. Musk, 53, has long cultivated a devil-may-care persona, traveling the world, hanging out with moguls, world leaders and celebrities, and smoking weed in public. But in private, he has increasingly barricaded himself behind a growing phalanx of armed bodyguards as he has become more wealthy, more famous and more outspoken — and as the threats against him have evolved.

Creating a neofeudal hellscape with you at the top might come with some perks - like those child slaves - but always worrying that someone's going to kill you and take your crown can't be that great of an existence.

Finally, 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, solar storm, unstoppable virus, or malicious computer 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 raiders as well as angry mobs. One had already secured a dozen Navy Seals to make their way to his compound if he gave them the right cue. But how would he pay the guards once even his crypto was worthless? What would stop the guards from eventually 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”.

I tried to reason with them. I made pro-social arguments for partnership and solidarity as the best approaches to our collective, long-term challenges. The way to get your guards to exhibit loyalty in the future was to treat them like friends right now, I explained. Don’t just invest in ammo and electric fences, invest in people and relationships. They rolled their eyes at what must have sounded to them like hippy philosophy.

Money and fame have their benefits, of course, even if you don't the child slaves, but feeling like you could never safely get on a city bus* would be quite the price to pay.

*Yes if I had a ton of money I'd still ride the bus.  I actually don't understand people who live in cities with good public transportation who still get around primarily by car.