Tech Billionaires' Sci-Fi Vision: The Trump Connection

You might have heard that tech billionaires, nicknamed the "broligarchs, " are cozying up to Donald Trump just to protect their business interests. While that's true to some extent, there's a deeper, sci-fi-inspired ideology at play. These billionaires, like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, see themselves as real-life superheroes on a mission to remake the world. They're drawn to Trump's promise of unchecked power, which aligns with their vision of a future where they're not limited by rules, death, or even laws of nature. The broligarchs are passionate about science fiction and fantasy. Zuckerberg wants to build a metaverse inspired by Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash. " Bezos looks to "Star Trek" and physicist Gerard K. O'Neill for his space colonization plans. Musk, inspired by Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series, wants to colonize Mars to "save" humanity. Marc Andreessen, inspired by superhero stories, pushes for unregulated AI advancements.This "übermensch" ideology, borrowed from Friedrich Nietzsche, has disturbing implications. They valorize aggression, coded as male, and believe they're above commonsense morality. They invest in longevity research to overcome death, seeing it as a limit. The broligarchs want to create sovereign colonies, like space cities or corporate-run network states, to escape democratic rules. They use crypto to dodge financial systems. Trump, benefiting from their support, seems cheerful about these plans. But this vision contradicts the interests of most ordinary Americans.