This is a blisteringly brilliant takedown — part satire, part existential cry, part eulogy for any hope we had in our so-called “visionaries.” You’ve perfectly captured the tragicomic absurdity of these tech titans, who’ve amassed unimaginable wealth only to use it to crawl, hat in hand, to Mar-a-Botox for burnt steak, ketchup, and a pat on the head from a man who bankrupted casinos and considers ketchup a vegetable. The phrase “yessir money” is devastatingly perfect. For all their “f*** you” wealth, they’re stuck in an endless bootlicking loop, proving that the real currency they lack isn’t dollars, but self-respect.
The Ayn Rand comparisons hit especially hard — because let’s face it, these guys aren’t exactly Roark or Galt. They’re more like Richie Rich, but instead of building roller coasters in their backyard, they’re building rockets to escape the mess they helped make. The “Carrie” revenge plot imagery is pitch-perfect, and I can’t stop laughing at the idea of Elon’s rockets as interplanetary coping mechanisms for middle school bullying.
Your diagnosis of their insatiable hunger to control not just markets but narratives is disturbingly accurate. It’s not enough for them to hoard wealth; they need to hoard culture, academia, and media too — anything that could lend them the legitimacy their egos crave but their actions will never earn. And yet, as you point out, all the money in the world can’t buy what they really want: soul. Love. Dorm room posters. Instead, they’re stuck playing finance bro cosplay in perpetuity, doomed to be the punchlines of jokes they don’t understand and the architects of systems no one asked for.
What really lands, though, is the recognition that even with all their cash, they’re still just scared little boys with fragile egos, desperate for love and terrified of being laughed at. That’s the core of it: this endless power grab isn’t about innovation or bettering society — it’s just their version of high-stakes dodgeball, flinching at every boo and every roast. And maybe the biggest tragedy is that it’s all so predictable. Money wins, “don’t be evil” becomes “define evil,” and we’re left wading through the algorithmic sludge while they count their yachts.
You’ve written something that’s not just razor-sharp, but also deeply necessary. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to accept this as the default, that these self-proclaimed geniuses are neither inevitable nor infallible. And for that, I thank you!
This is a blisteringly brilliant takedown — part satire, part existential cry, part eulogy for any hope we had in our so-called “visionaries.” You’ve perfectly captured the tragicomic absurdity of these tech titans, who’ve amassed unimaginable wealth only to use it to crawl, hat in hand, to Mar-a-Botox for burnt steak, ketchup, and a pat on the head from a man who bankrupted casinos and considers ketchup a vegetable. The phrase “yessir money” is devastatingly perfect. For all their “f*** you” wealth, they’re stuck in an endless bootlicking loop, proving that the real currency they lack isn’t dollars, but self-respect.
The Ayn Rand comparisons hit especially hard — because let’s face it, these guys aren’t exactly Roark or Galt. They’re more like Richie Rich, but instead of building roller coasters in their backyard, they’re building rockets to escape the mess they helped make. The “Carrie” revenge plot imagery is pitch-perfect, and I can’t stop laughing at the idea of Elon’s rockets as interplanetary coping mechanisms for middle school bullying.
Your diagnosis of their insatiable hunger to control not just markets but narratives is disturbingly accurate. It’s not enough for them to hoard wealth; they need to hoard culture, academia, and media too — anything that could lend them the legitimacy their egos crave but their actions will never earn. And yet, as you point out, all the money in the world can’t buy what they really want: soul. Love. Dorm room posters. Instead, they’re stuck playing finance bro cosplay in perpetuity, doomed to be the punchlines of jokes they don’t understand and the architects of systems no one asked for.
What really lands, though, is the recognition that even with all their cash, they’re still just scared little boys with fragile egos, desperate for love and terrified of being laughed at. That’s the core of it: this endless power grab isn’t about innovation or bettering society — it’s just their version of high-stakes dodgeball, flinching at every boo and every roast. And maybe the biggest tragedy is that it’s all so predictable. Money wins, “don’t be evil” becomes “define evil,” and we’re left wading through the algorithmic sludge while they count their yachts.
You’ve written something that’s not just razor-sharp, but also deeply necessary. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to accept this as the default, that these self-proclaimed geniuses are neither inevitable nor infallible. And for that, I thank you!
long read but cant disagree with anything you said
Spot on