Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires
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- Create Date：2022-09-05 07:52:56
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Douglas Rushkoff
- ISBN：0393881067
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Summary
The tech elite have a plan to survive the apocalypse: they want to leave us all behind。
Five mysterious billionaires summoned theorist Douglas Rushkoff to a desert resort for a private talk。 The topic？ How to survive the “Event”: the societal catastrophe they know is coming。 Rushkoff came to understand that these men were under the influence of The Mindset， a Silicon Valley–style certainty that they and their cohort can break the laws of physics， economics， and morality to escape a disaster of their own making—as long as they have enough money and the right technology。
In Survival of the Richest， Rushkoff traces the origins of The Mindset in science and technology through its current expression in missions to Mars， island bunkers， AI futurism， and the metaverse。 In a dozen urgent， electrifying chapters， he confronts tech utopianism， the datafication of all human interaction， and the exploitation of that data by corporations。 Through fascinating characters—master programmers who want to remake the world from scratch as if redesigning a video game and bankers who return from Burning Man convinced that incentivized capitalism is the solution to environmental disasters—Rushkoff explains why those with the most power to change our current trajectory have no interest in doing so。 And he shows how recent forms of anti-mainstream rebellion—QAnon， for example， or meme stocks—reinforce the same destructive order。
This mind-blowing work of social analysis shows us how to transcend the landscape The Mindset created—a world alive with algorithms and intelligences actively rewarding our most selfish tendencies—and rediscover community， mutual aid， and human interdependency。 In a thundering conclusion， Survival of the Richest argues that the only way to survive the coming catastrophe is to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first place。
Five mysterious billionaires summoned theorist Douglas Rushkoff to a desert resort for a private talk。 The topic？ How to survive the “Event”: the societal catastrophe they know is coming。 Rushkoff came to understand that these men were under the influence of The Mindset， a Silicon Valley–style certainty that they and their cohort can break the laws of physics， economics， and morality to escape a disaster of their own making—as long as they have enough money and the right technology。
In Survival of the Richest， Rushkoff traces the origins of The Mindset in science and technology through its current expression in missions to Mars， island bunkers， AI futurism， and the metaverse。 In a dozen urgent， electrifying chapters， he confronts tech utopianism， the datafication of all human interaction， and the exploitation of that data by corporations。 Through fascinating characters—master programmers who want to remake the world from scratch as if redesigning a video game and bankers who return from Burning Man convinced that incentivized capitalism is the solution to environmental disasters—Rushkoff explains why those with the most power to change our current trajectory have no interest in doing so。 And he shows how recent forms of anti-mainstream rebellion—QAnon， for example， or meme stocks—reinforce the same destructive order。
This mind-blowing work of social analysis shows us how to transcend the landscape The Mindset created—a world alive with algorithms and intelligences actively rewarding our most selfish tendencies—and rediscover community， mutual aid， and human interdependency。 In a thundering conclusion， Survival of the Richest argues that the only way to survive the coming catastrophe is to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first place。
Reviews
Ula Tardigrade
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Something went horribly wrong with the Internet - this truth became more widely accepted in recent years， and resulted in a movement called Techlash。 It is also a topic of a growing number of books， but among those ‘Survival of the Richest’ stands out。 I can’t remember any other so eye-opening， so thought-provoking reading in years。 The author has both unique access to main players in the big tech scene and an intellectual background that helps to give all that is happening now a deeper context。 Something went horribly wrong with the Internet - this truth became more widely accepted in recent years， and resulted in a movement called Techlash。 It is also a topic of a growing number of books， but among those ‘Survival of the Richest’ stands out。 I can’t remember any other so eye-opening， so thought-provoking reading in years。 The author has both unique access to main players in the big tech scene and an intellectual background that helps to give all that is happening now a deeper context。 If you’re trying to understand what the heck happened with our reality and what you can do to change its disastrous trajectory， it is an essential read。 Highly recommended。Thanks to the publisher， W。W。 Norton & Company， and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book。 。。。more
Mo
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The plan the tech billionaires have for our future is scary。 This book will convince you why we mustn't let that happen。 The plan the tech billionaires have for our future is scary。 This book will convince you why we mustn't let that happen。 。。。more
Brigitte Yuille
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Environmental collapse， nuclear explosion， or an uncontrollable virus are catastrophic events that are concerning。 However， some of the world's wealthiest people are planning for them。 Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff is an alarming and insightful book that reveals just how。 It discusses the thoughts and worries of billionaires regarding their survival。 It reveals their plans for safe-haven farm communities and underground apartments and concerns about a security force that turns aga Environmental collapse， nuclear explosion， or an uncontrollable virus are catastrophic events that are concerning。 However， some of the world's wealthiest people are planning for them。 Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff is an alarming and insightful book that reveals just how。 It discusses the thoughts and worries of billionaires regarding their survival。 It reveals their plans for safe-haven farm communities and underground apartments and concerns about a security force that turns against them。 Also， the book examines events like recent mergers that negatively impacted capitalism and the COVID-19 global pandemic's effect on the digital economy and virtual reality。Survival of the Richest had many powerful statements that were "food for thought。" For example， the more power someone has， the less mirroring they do with others， resulting in less empathy and contributing to socially inappropriate behavior。 Also， it was fascinating to learn that no matter the tragedy， someone is making money off it， and it's often billions of dollars。 Survival of the Richest also points out the ironic behavior of the wealthy， such as attending an energy summit that served water in small plastic bottles。 This book will confirm some people's assumptions， but it's likely an eye-opener for many about how the wealthy are planning their survival strategies in the wake of monumental disasters。 。。。more
Chris Barsanti
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Nothing that Rushkoff writes in this clipped， angry book should surprise most readers。 Nobody who has spent any time tracking the pronouncements and feuds of the more futurist-minded tech elites would think many had a high opinion of or interest in improving the daily lot of carbon-based life forms。 Though predictable and at times a bit too broadly defined， the depth of anti-humanist sentiment related by Rushkoff is still harrowing and illuminating。。。My full review was published atPopMatters。 Nothing that Rushkoff writes in this clipped， angry book should surprise most readers。 Nobody who has spent any time tracking the pronouncements and feuds of the more futurist-minded tech elites would think many had a high opinion of or interest in improving the daily lot of carbon-based life forms。 Though predictable and at times a bit too broadly defined， the depth of anti-humanist sentiment related by Rushkoff is still harrowing and illuminating。。。My full review was published atPopMatters。 。。。more
Ben Rogers
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At Any CostThis was a very good book on the rich， internet， and legislation / politics。 It was quite a fascinating and somewhat shocking-at-times read。 It reminded me a lot of the book Internet for the People， and I would recommend reading them together - they compliment each other very well。 Rushkoff is an excellent writer， it was well researched and an accessible & readable book。Would recommend4。6/5 At Any CostThis was a very good book on the rich， internet， and legislation / politics。 It was quite a fascinating and somewhat shocking-at-times read。 It reminded me a lot of the book Internet for the People， and I would recommend reading them together - they compliment each other very well。 Rushkoff is an excellent writer， it was well researched and an accessible & readable book。Would recommend4。6/5 。。。more
Janalyn Prude
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When billionaires want to be preppers， who do they call？ Well， in the case of this book they call Douglas Rushkoff。 They drove him to a remote area in the desert and sat at a round table asking him questions like “where is the safest place going to be when disaster happens？“ “Is Alaska or New Zealand going to be safer？“ as opposed to “what can we do to stop a disaster？ “ this certainly got the author thinking about all the questions and more and that is where the book comes from。 From million do When billionaires want to be preppers， who do they call？ Well， in the case of this book they call Douglas Rushkoff。 They drove him to a remote area in the desert and sat at a round table asking him questions like “where is the safest place going to be when disaster happens？“ “Is Alaska or New Zealand going to be safer？“ as opposed to “what can we do to stop a disaster？ “ this certainly got the author thinking about all the questions and more and that is where the book comes from。 From million dollar farms that would help everyone to underground bunkers for individual families this book covers it all in modern interesting book it was。 I didn’t even know billionaires were preppers and that they are actively looking for ways to save them and their families。 This book is surprising and informative and most of all interesting。 I thoroughly enjoyed this book if you read this book in your mind isn’t blown then you’re for better informed than I am。 My favorite chapter was on the aqua nation but all the chapters were very interesting。 I received this book from NetGalleyShelf and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review。 。。。more
Julien
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It's fine。 It did make me want to research some things in more depth。 It's fine。 It did make me want to research some things in more depth。 。。。more
Ryo
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I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway。The book opens with a story about the author's invitation to a remote resort in the middle of nowhere， where he meets five super-rich men who want his thoughts on how to survive the end of the world。 This sets up his description of "The Mindset，" where the rich and powerful， mostly in Silicon Valley， think that they can escape reality and change the rules with technology and money。 The book is certainly great at highlighting some of I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway。The book opens with a story about the author's invitation to a remote resort in the middle of nowhere， where he meets five super-rich men who want his thoughts on how to survive the end of the world。 This sets up his description of "The Mindset，" where the rich and powerful， mostly in Silicon Valley， think that they can escape reality and change the rules with technology and money。 The book is certainly great at highlighting some of the horrifying and dehumanizing aspects of big tech companies， and it also goes into how some of these ideas have been present even before the big tech revolution， ever since capitalistic systems have been in place。 On the whole， though， this book felt unbalanced。 The author certainly describes his cynicism and disdain for the wealthy tech elites very strongly and in great detail， but that makes up the bulk of this book。 There's very little space devoted to solutions or pointers to the experts we should be listening to instead of the technology experts and billionaires。 There's some vague promotion of more community and compassion， more iteration and reuse over radical innovation， but not much that's concrete in terms of who to turn to （besides the author himself）。 There were some parts that were flat-out contradictory; one example that stuck out was in a chapter where the author criticizes TED talks， where he says， "Fix it。 Hack it。 Reboot it。 Develop it。 Scale it。 Automate it。 As if doing less， or even doing nothing， were not an option。" But then immediately after that， he says， "Repairing what we have， scaling back， or even seeking incremental progress doesn't make for an exciting podcast， online panel， or TED Talk。" But isn't "repairing what we have" equivalent to "fix it"？ "Scaling back" can be "reboot it，" and "seeking incremental progress" can just be "develop it。" The contrast he's setting up isn't really a contrast。 The author makes a lot of good points， and his cynicism of the wealthy elite in the tech industry certainly seems warranted， but I wish he had included more alternatives and solutions to the problems， instead of focusing so much on taking shots at people and institutions he believes are steering us in the wrong direction。 。。。more
Heather Jones
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This book was fascinating and appalling。 It's a close look at the psychology of tech billionaires， drawing the general conclusion that they are actively destroying human civilization because they believe that they'll be able to figure out a way to separate themselves from the rest of us when it all falls apart。 Some insights in this。 book were genuinely eye-opening to me。 I don't feel like I closed the book with any ideas about ways to avert the apocalypse， but I do feel like when the world is b This book was fascinating and appalling。 It's a close look at the psychology of tech billionaires， drawing the general conclusion that they are actively destroying human civilization because they believe that they'll be able to figure out a way to separate themselves from the rest of us when it all falls apart。 Some insights in this。 book were genuinely eye-opening to me。 I don't feel like I closed the book with any ideas about ways to avert the apocalypse， but I do feel like when the world is burning， I'll at least have a good understanding of why。 Strong recommend。 。。。more
Kyle Horton
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