The billionaires thought they were so smart.

[Irish_Dem]

It was a no brainer. Install Trump into office by hook or crook. So then they pay ZERO taxes, have NO regulation, and get lucrative federal handouts.

What could go wrong?

They found out the hard way.

All the things that made the US a great place to get rich and run a
business are being destroyed.

-A stable government with rule of law.
-Contracts and disputes settled peacefully in court.
-Predictable economy run with a steady hand.
-Educated workforce with their schooling paid for by the US taxpayer via public schools.
-A stable society held together by federal and state governments.
-Science, healthcare, education, rule of law. All funded by the US taxpayer.
-Calm, peaceful, prosperous society where people are happy, secure and spend money on products and services.
-All make a stable and predictable setting to run a corporation and get very rich.

They couldn't fathom that Trump would destroy it all.
And demand a share of their profits vis extortion and threats.
In addition people are becoming more angry at corporate greed
and their bending the knee to Trump. This puts them and their corporations
in harm's way. They are getting worried and afraid.

They were very foolish. If they had been paying attention they
would have known that this is the classic dictator move. Putin did the same
in Russia. Use the oligarchs to come to power. Then kneecap those
rich guys. Made them his dancing bears forced to hand over their profits.
Or else they run into problems when they stand next to a window.

The American billionaire and CEOs are victims of their own greed and corruption.

Their downfall is of their own doing and frankly a delight to see.
It couldn't happen to a nicer group of thugs. Because they are also traitors
who betrayed their own country for cash and power. And destroyed
the consumers who made them rich.

Unfortunately they take down the rest of us with them.
It is almost worth it to see the rich bastards circle the drain.

And to those who rightly point out that the bastards will always have a
roof over their heads and food on the table, yes this is true.
But make no mistake, these SOBs have a money addiction and
are money hoarders.

Their drugs of choice are money and power but the supply is being sharply curtailed.

This is going to hurt them where it counts. Their bank accounts.
And ongoing public humiliation also hurts a group who is used to being revered.

A severe narcissistic injury to the money addicts and traitors.

[WSHazel]

1. I disagree

Most of the billionaires know exactly what they are dealing with, and I would be shocked if most of them are not implementing exit plans, if those plans are not in place already. Every billionaire is aware of what happened to Russian oligarchs when Putin took over. None of them want to be America’s Khoderkovsky.

I also suspect that the significant majority of major corporations have a “flight plan”.

They are hedging their risk in case things go really bad. What is everyone else doing?

[Irish_Dem]

3. I think both our theories are correct.

This is a multilayered phenomenon.

The American power elite and wealthy are absolutely not a one dimensional
group. I know for a fact for example that healthcare and academic elites
are naive and have tunnel vision. They probably never fathomed a dictator
would destroy them. Same with some of the other groups.

But yes of course, there are groups of the wealthy and powerful who
have definite escape plans. They know they have ruined the planet
and put humans at severe risk. They are buying up property in
various parts of the world they think will be safe. This is why they
are hoarding money at such an alarming rate. They know it is game over
and their last chance.

So I would say SOME of the wealthy are as you describe.
The rest of the power elite are too naive, smug, with tunnel vision.
Their narcissism actually hurt them. They could never envision
a world where they were not the top dogs.

[Joinfortmill]

13. Some countries may not want these creeps even with all their money.

[Irish_Dem]

16. Well we have not seen many say no to the rich and powerful.

Time will tell.

[Lovie777]

4. Probably.............

but.......................

greed supersedes in most cases. Rinse and repeat.

Right now, the pattern of another crash here in the USA is commencing. The devaluing of the dollar, the currency that is most valued in the world. Gold at it's highest, silver moving upward, crypto seesaws. Tariffs are increasing high cost of living here in the USA, middle and poor classes are hit the hardest, apparently we are paying additional taxes. Healthcare, education, child care, social security, disabilities are under attack. Low job hiring, high job firing, unemployment is up.

Bat shit crazy political party in control, bat shit crazy 6 justices in US SC. Oblivious Stock Market.

I read that the present political party in control are aware the economy is on the verge of collapse and crypto and gold will secure the survival of the rich, only.

With that logic, it may become a global matter, the rich will lose everything, so will we.

Rinse and repeat.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Some of the rich will take big hits.

This will be quite painful for them.

[Joinfortmill]

17. Yikes. I hope not. But, the midterms will be crucial. And SCOTUS alone could bring it all down, the motherf*ckers.

[NNadir]

6. To where will they flee?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Epstein's Island. . . . . nt

[Irish_Dem]

10. It has been reported they are buying land in New Zealand for example.

They think this will save them somehow.

[Wednesdays]

28. LOL, if they hate all the "wokeness" and "socialism" in the USA

Just wait until they move to New Zealand!

[John Farmer]

20. Nauru

[Lucky Luciano]

23. New Zealand

Lots of super rich have bought escape bunkers there already.

[DinahMoeHum]

27. Re "escape bunkers". Let them go in. . .

JUST MAKE SURE THEY DON'T. GET. OUT.

[Cosmocat]

37. Billionaires will be fine

We will now be a Russian like endeavor w oligarchs who will have elite status.

The "average" millionaire will be ok, but will end up knowing he or she is just a cut or two above tge rest of us plebs.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Historically narcissistic injury is intricately bound to capitalism and consumerism

Very little studied. Real American advertising began post-WWI. Didn't a few fear the effect on the public? (I never took the history of psychology, regrettably). Seems to me I recall there were warnings in the 1920s, but psychology rumbled on through psychoanalysis, behaviorism, cognition, humanism. Narcissistic abuse, in my view, was an underlying element of control that survived them all and lives today, in public, in private, in families, in consumerism, in health care. It helps support hierarchical, pyramidal social and financial structures. It's like we can't escape.

[Irish_Dem]

12. The field of psychology has many specialty areas.

Social psychology is the specialty which feeds Wall Street the info
on how to dupe and cheat the American public. They are not held
in high esteem by the other branches of psychology.

Yes the dark underbelly of human nature shows up in our naked consumerism
and greed. It is the iconic human condition.

[OldBaldy1701E]

26. Narcissism is practically an American virtue.

Always has been.

[Irish_Dem]

48. Yes Americans have always been full of pride bordering on obnoxiousness.

Some of our pride was well earned.

But being an obnoxious people was not a good look.
And always looking out for #1 was not either.

Yes you are correct OB.

It has now flipped to clinical pathology narcissism.
It is destroying our country.

[johnnyfins]

5. Meh. This is all going as planned.

The 1% think there are already too many people in the club.

[Irish_Dem]

14. Some of the wealthy will also be culled.

Not all of them are smart enough to escape.

[CrispyQ]

30. A big problem in America is that people have no clue just how rich the wealthy really are.

I remember several years ago hearing the phrase, "Shaq is rich. The man who signs his paycheck is wealthy."

The upper middle class especially, overestimate their wealth & vote like they're rich. As the playing field continues to tilt more drastically, those who think they are rich now, will fall into the lower classes while those at the top will get richer & the gap gets wider.

The vid below is very dated, 2014 I believe, so imagine what it's like now. The good part starts at 48 seconds.

Americas wealth in one pie.

I just looked it up. Shaq is worth about $500 million. The owner of the Lakers is worth $6 billion.

[travelingthrulife]

33. Your point about people not understanding is right. When they buy the

oligarch lie about how the oligarchs pay all the taxes, and they quote some large sum of money, but they never, ever state what percentage of their wealth they pay in taxes because it is low or maybe nothing. Nor do they offset those claims of paying so much tax money with lists of public subsidies they receive.

[Cosmocat]

38. Correct

The "average" millionaire will be a step or two above us plebs if he or she maintains absolute compliance to the party, but won't be in the oligarch club.

[Irish_Dem]

42. We cannot really imagine how they live.

The utter luxury, clothes, jewels, homes, travel, private sets, yachts,
servants, etc.

[Hugin]

50. There was an exit poll in the early 'aughts that showed 19% of Americans thought that they were in or soon would be...

In the top 1%. In truth, probably none of them ever were.

My own story. In 1998 for a couple of months, I was in the top 10% of people who got W-2s. By the time I left that field 25 years later, I was in the very low middle.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

36. Wish they All

Would get culled make them extinct and never let another billionaire exist after the cull. They have bunkers in New Zealand why not seal them in their bunkershut permanently they’ll eventually run out of food

[Irish_Dem]

49. They will have top of the line 24/7 security. They already do.

[unblock]

8. Real businesses are hating all this, but the billionaires are a different breed

My company helps fund financing for real businesses, mostly a little below investment grade. I've never seen politics discussed more openly, and more unanimously one-sided -- anti-trump. They *all* think what's going on is ridiculous and bad for the economy.

They're right, but mostly it's bad for normal businesses. The billionaires and the oracles and googles and apples are in a position to swoop in and rescue the corporate victims. They will consolidate into even bigger behemoths and control even more of everything.

Are they annoyed to be bullied by Donnie for his cut? Sure, but it's a price they're willing to pay. They don't overly mind paying Donnie a few billions in order to increase profits by hundreds of billions.

[Irish_Dem]

15. As I said above. Some of them are going to go down the drain with the rest of us.

Many of them are not smart enough to escape the consequences of what they have done.

[Joinfortmill]

19. This sounds right to me. The U.S. is it's own kind of oligarchy.

[CrispyQ]

32. Ma Bell. Remember her?

When I was shopping for phone service my sister told me go with ATT cuz it's the only company you can be on the phone & go on the internet at the same time. Not sure if that's still true, but it was at the time. It's not a deal breaker feature, but it can be convenient. On edit, the point being what kind of advantage have they had over all other telcoms due to their history & size.

[Cosmocat]

39. Correct

They will be ok in a much degraded body politic / economy if they maintain absolute fealty to the party, but as you note won't be in the oligarch club.

A lot of favorable reviews of the HBO series Chernobyl. I did think it was an accurate portrayal of how absurdly dysfunctional Russian government is, and commented on some of the internet groups I am in that was where were we were heading and predictably the right wingers chopped in "Yes, because of the liberals!"

Idiots.

[Irish_Dem]

51. Yes Unblock this is the plan. Trump is bankrupting small business.

Oligarchs will swoop in and pick the bones.

Trump gets a huge cut of their profits.

[multigraincracker]

53. Looks like plan for small family farms.

Then it will be home veggie gardens.

[Irish_Dem]

54. Yes but also other small businesses. The tariffs are destroying them.

[Joinfortmill]

11. Amen!

[malaise]

18. Rec

Their drugs of choice are money and power

[multigraincracker]

55. They base the value of a person by wealth.

They may have more $ than they can ever spend. Now they want to increase that gap because they will feel even more superior than they think they are now.
In the end, death is the great equalizer.

[dedl67]

21. Morris Berman, in "Dark Ages America" prophesized the end of the American empire

That book was published in 2006. As Morris wrote: "My own belief is that there is no warding off the Dark Age: all the evidence points in that direction." Reflecting on Morris's view from the present standpoint, I can only say that he was not nearly pessimistic enough.

[Irish_Dem]

22. Yes the most cynical, pessimistic predictions were way too optimistic.

[JohnnyRingo]

24. I learned the definition of Fascism is businesses own the government

It's the opposite of Communism where the government owns all the businesses. Hitler invaded much of Europe to further the interests of his military industrial complex and for raw materials and factories needed by other corporations. Capitalism is free commerce with government oversight in place to stifle greed. That oversight has been replaced by a pay to play system that favors big corporations and invites Fascism.

I'd say with all the deregulations, illegal mergers, and an easily corrupted administration, they are pretty smug and sitting on top of the world right now. If they bleed this country dry of profit, there's always war to grow their interests globally, but we've seen that movie before.

[Irish_Dem]

25. Trump is insisting he is the boss over the corporations.

So it is a struggle between Trump and business.

The tariffs are an extortion scam by Trump which is hurting business.
Like Trump kidnapping all their cheap labor.

I don't think CEOs are sitting on top of the world right now.

[gab13by13]

31. With AI leading the way

there will be a move to monopolies, such as; Krasnov will bail out the Big farms but let the small farms go broke. There will be an oligarch in charge of Big Farma, he/she will be protected by Krasnov and in return Krasnov will receive a % of the profits.

There will be oligarchs in charge of every industry. Of course the number of billionaires will have to be greatly reduced, only the strong will be in charge. There will be an oligarch in charge of communications who will speak with a single message. Krasnov may even call him the Minister of Truth?

[Cosmocat]

40. Correct

We are well on the way to a Russian style enterprise. I would add in fealty to "the party" as a big part of the puzzle, as you see them using CKs murder to really ramp up their destruction of the opposition party / forcing compliance to their party.

[Irish_Dem]

47. Yes Loyalty is a major issue. In Russia, Putin does regular purges of industry, military, etc.

These leaders are either fired, jailed, or killed to send a message to everyone.

Total loyalty is the only thing that matters or you will be in the street or killed.
Putin even kills innocent people just to terrify everyone and keep them docile.

[Irish_Dem]

46. Yes Trump is handing out the total US economy to his oligarchs.

At the same time he wants a big portion of the profits.

Typical of a fascist.

It won't be hard for Trump to cull the oligarch herd.
Those who don't toe the line he will destroy.
This is what Putin does in Russia, window style.

[JohnnyRingo]

35. I believe he's a figurehead for the corporations.

The major businesses of the world only have to complement him and kowtow to his wishes.
The resorts and hotels demanded cheap labor so they got an exception on immigration. Likewise for fruit growers.

Meanwhile corporations have been allowed to monopolize into powerful political forces.
The Motely Fool has a weekly quiz of name that company. Often times the company is not a household name, but the brands are. And the mergers continue under this figurehead:

[Irish_Dem]

52. I think the figurehead has turned on the corporations.

Demanding their profits and ordering them around.

[JohnnyRingo]

59. That may be.

He can't please everyone.
If he boosts Tesla, he hurts GM. If he takes a bribe from ABC, it hurts Murdock

House of cards indeed.

[Irish_Dem]

60. He doesn't care who he hurts. He wants cash and ass kissing.

Funny you should mention house of cards.

I was thinking about that term today.
And how the US, the strongest country in the world, turns out to be
just a house of cards.

[gab13by13]

29. Those billionaires believe that AI will take care of them.

AI will solve everything from climate change to replacing the immigrant work force.

If the unwashed Americans eventually rebel, the billionaires will be safe in their fortified gated communities and the army can handle the uprisings.

Many of the billionaires, even today, are really oligarchs, monopolies will grow and numerous billionaires will head them. The dictator will protect the oligarchs and only demand a % of their profit.

The plan IMO is for, call it what you want, eugenics, depopulation, genocide to reduce the world's population, it will be one big party and we aren't invited.

[Irish_Dem]

45. I agree Gab, their intent seems quite clear.

Trump and RFKjr are working hard to cull the population.

The rich have AI and robots to do the work.
They don't need us any more.

Climate change will wipe out many world resources.
Billionaires do not what to share.

[Bobstandard]

34. Let's remember the two Roosevelts

Teddy busted the trusts at the dawn of the 20th century. 40 rears later Franklin raised the marginal tax rate on the highest incomes to something like 90%. These were political events. It could happen again with the right people in office and enough people forcing their hands.

[Irish_Dem]

44. Now that the Nazis and billionaire have power, will they let go of it?

Historically the rich let the Dems have power every 8 years.
The Dems have to pay off the debt and clean up the mess the GOP made.
Fill up the piggybank so the GOP can come back into office and steal it.

But why do that? The GOP is done with the peasants.
They are useless eaters and just use resources that the rich want.

[Bobstandard]

61. Sigh. So much truth in what you say. nt

[Crunchy Frog]

41. Parasites can't afford to kill their hosts. A lesson that the billionaires have yet to learn.

[Irish_Dem]

43. They think they don't need us peasants any more.

They have already stolen most of the word's wealth.
They don't need us as consumers.

They have robots and AI.
They don't need us as employees.

We are just useless eaters who take up space
and the resources they have not yet taken from us.

[multigraincracker]

56. Eat the Rich. The only power we have to make

them think about it.
Join me and add that small sticker to your rear bumper.

Search “Eat the Rich” for a rich history of that movement.

[Irish_Dem]

57. I think the rich are getting a bit nervous.

The security firms for the wealthy must be making a fortune.

[multigraincracker]

58. Those stickers are available on Etsy, super cheap.

I started to see them on car on campus and decided to join in.

[raccoon]

62. Ain't that a shame?

[Irish_Dem]

63. The billionaires appear to no longer need us.

They don't pay taxes, no regulation, federal subsidies, etc.

They can steal resources. And already have more money than they can spend.
With AI and robots they only need a small human workforce.

The rest of us are expendable.