The End of the Billionaire Mindset: A Celebration with Douglas Rushkoff | SXSW 2023

In an entertaining session of stand-up philosophy with Q&A, Rushkoff shares the stories of his encounters with the scientists, technologists, and billionaires hoping to leave humanity behind, while giving us the distance we need to laugh at their hubris and choose a different path.
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[@headsails]

Rushkoff has highly balanced feeling and thought connections while being fluid, dynamic and adaptive. I respect his ideas more that 99.9% of all of those charlatans. He's on "the A team".

[@garretttedeman]

This talk is pure genius. Please share it to any/all who might be interested.

[@brodieofficial]

I tell everyone all the time since I found his stuff haha

[@charliem5254]

*attention young ladies in particular* *ATTENTION YOUNG LADIES*

[@EnglishToffee]

Rushkoff is brilliant!

[@murray.galbraith]

Reading 'Program or be Programmed' on the plane to SXSW in 2013 changed my life. Thank you for thinking out loud Doug.

[@jnnx]

But tell us HOW it changed your life. . .

[@murray.galbraith]

@@jnnx I guess you could say it opened my eyes to a systems thinking approach… The importance of moving past WHAT a tool can do for us, by asking who made it, how and why they made it the way they did. As a designer, this bolstered my belief that digging deeper into a problem is worthwhile, rather than the waste of time it sometimes feels. Hope that helps 😊

[@paulm3969]

This guy is cool, like a modern, hopped up version of Alan Watts.

[@m0thdm]

RUSHKOFF IS A REALLLLL ONE!!!!!!!!

[@ToddRock16]

Fu.... Ng fantastic. This all needs to be said. More importantly it needs to be heard . I'm new to Rushkoff and better for it .🎉

[@goth_ross]

This was an amazing talk. Rushkoff simply gets it. He has an amziing way of explaining some of the really serious ills of what our basic societal structures have become!!! This has given me some new paths to perspectives on some very prescient issues regarding genrative AI. which has become the main focus of my daily life. and the way it exploits artists work in an effort to replace them en masse. something now coming to the forefrontfor many as the SAG / AFTRA stroike has brought some awareness to the utterly evil machinations of the billionaire and ultra wealthy class. ANyway. i digress. again. very useful context gained here. this guy is a f-in treasure!!

[@auntieann3000]

When I was going to college, I set out to treat myself for the hard classes I'd have to take while getting my pre-med Bachelor's degree. I landed on Philosophy as my reward. Your answer to what education is for really hit home for me. Never had my need for 'better' learning validated, only patronized. "That's...interesting." But I did it for me & I'm a better person for it. ✌

[@AD-yo1pg]

I'm a simple man... I hear Doug speak, I upvote

[@marcellavanoel6308]

@ 23:11 "Human beings are the problem and technology is the solution." (Best sarcasm ever.) Thank you, Mr. Rushkoff. All this brilliance and only 14, 286 views??? I hope you gain more ground.

[@adrianciu]

Brilliant 😊 This guy should and will have growing adepts and great future. Many congrats !!!

[@Rafalgahr]

The whole tech startup world is not an ecosystem, it's a parasite on the actual ecosystem. Tech in general should be about making cool and handy tools and games that make life easier and more fun (and you don't have to go wasting as we do to reach ease and fun), not programming humans.

[@campbellpaul]

They cant handle the technology they are creating. Ted Kaczynski's views were largely passed off as being from the psychi of a murderer, but he still made very lucid, tactful points in his manifesto. Now we just have to ride the fallout of the anthropocene era.

[@stevej.7926]

Well said

[@PeterFnPorker]

"Stock" is literally a term used to determine value of a slave.... that's where it comes from :) "That Man is good Stock"... we are all slaves to banks and billionaires :)

[@JB-mh5xy]

And Libertarians and conservatives are the house slaves

[@Phariseehunter]

Well spotted, we're not a 'person' either that's why person-ality.

[@Rubs0122]

Great talk ❤ I love the clarity and accessibility of his speech. Topics seem so complicated and beyond but through his human lenses it gets crystal clear and utterly uncomplicated

[@Lalallalu]

All absolutely brilliant, but his final observations on the value of education are simply OUTSTANDING!!!! 🙏🏆🙌

[@inesclopes]

This talk is fuel. I'm so inspired. I got to think, see things differently, and even laugh and cry. Thank you, Douglas.

[@looseunit9180]

This is a fucking great speech!! Just discovering this guy and he is amazing

[@kyrie9610]

welcome to Team Human, friend :)

[@gerdleonhard2]

Go douglas go!!!

[@theresaguthrie2212]

Bravo!

[@jayjames7055]

Best lecture ever?

[@AdmiralBison]

I DON'T CARE about "the end of the billionaire mindset"- Just end billionaires period. They own nearly everything and simply have a dis-proportionate amount of power and wealth at the expense of everyone else.- *"Billionaires should not exist"*

[@ConanDuke]

Rushkoff always gets it.

[@galamotshaku]

Love Rushkoff he really gets all the Silicon valley insanity

[@stevenmorris5562]

Fabulous talk Douglas! I'll be sharing it around.

[@loic5678]

Very good, so true 👍

[@trancemuter]

brilliant!

[@maykito14]

Societal collapse will by far affect billionaires more than anyone else, besides top level politicians. As if all the world’s governments and financial systems could fall apart without the advantages they gave to certain people going away

[@emeraldkendell1577]

How I enjoyed that !

[@withaak]

wow

[@antindie]

Okay, so is there a peaceful way of fixing this or do we go the hard way?

[@boombot934]

Brilliant speech! Billionaires should repent and reinvest their fortune💰 into planting trees🌲🌳🌴, forests, parks and gardens😊

[@scotthullinger4684]

Billionaires earned their money and should spend it any way they want. Those who have a contrary opinion are the people who don't plant any trees, forests, and gardens of their own.

[@Phariseehunter]

@@scotthullinger4684 'earned' that's hilarious, how only are you, 6 or 7?

[@pageek3487]

@@scotthullinger4684 really? How about those that are billionaires solely because they were were born into a rich family? It’s not that simple. Plenty or poor people that work harder and more deserving of money than some billionaire who did nothing or got their money by exploitation.

[@scotthullinger4684]

@@pageek3487 - Tell me - Exactly how "deserving" an ordinary person needs to be before a wealthy billionaire should be required to give up his billion$ for a do-nothing person? You're stupid enough to believe that all rich people inherited their money. Tell me - exactly how "rich" is RICH? How many million$? Do you think it's a tragedy that a person who went to university and worked damn hard at every step along the way is not entitled to have an annual income of, say, half a million or so? My brother is a multi millionaire a few times over, and he's blue collar. Did I say blue collar? Yes, I surely did - Guess what he does? He does something called "work his ass off." And in between that, he pours wet cement for foundations and whatever else. Who does he employ via a temp agency? He employs other damn hard working, self motivated guys. Tell me ... exactly who's being exploited? Fill in the blanks -

[@milesteg8627]

@@scotthullinger4684 Nobody earns a billion dollars. - Jesse Ventura

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensenson]

He said something that was just flat wrong. “Since when was the purpose of public school to be to externalization the cost of worker training for corporations” is the sad reality of what public school was designed to do.

[@susansmiles2630]

I love this man! I sure wish the other tech guys, especially musk & zuck had one sliver of his Soul.

[@charliem5254]

It's wild that there are people who don't know who Tim Leary is.

[@christopherdaly1399]

"behavioral finance guru" - WOW, I never thought of that! I could do that. Does it pay well? Do you have to actually be a "GURU"? Could be a sticking point. Is there such a thing as "Guru school"? Gotta luv the word "guru". Anybody can be a cookie guru, construction guru, rock & roll guru, any kinda guru at all. Someday I too will be a guru.

[@dustinwatkins7843]

It wasn't when metallurgy came around it was when the agricultural revolution occurred. Prior to that it was common for men in general to reproduce, and power was relatively equal. After that, I believe some DNA records show that it was only 1 in 16 men who would reproduce, and power was very unequal.

[@cgfreeandeasy]

Interresting story about the meeting with billionairs... and what strange questions....they remind me of some special scenarios and why they had ask that of all things. And that this event was so impressiv for him, that he made that lecture (and tells it in several interviews and lectures). Never thought about, what lets you remembering something? The current thing, that is your central part of iactual mpression, is, what formed your identity. And sometimes, someone else has his finger stickt in that developement without asking you. Let me ask: that airplane, that brought you to the meeting... there was food and drinks. Hotel was fine, you had nothing to miss over the hole trip, right? But after the trip, there was half a week some strange feelings and psychosomatics? A Cold or light flu-symptoms? Other unregularys in health? Some may will get some digestive-problems instead. But it was over quickly and then everything was good again? No, it was diferent, even better? Then he got manipulated in a very fundamental way, they never wanted to know from him, what they should do with their money...these were questions about compatibility for assimilation and manipulation. Oh yes, the world works on a level and deceitfulness that you should hardly preemptively accuse others of if you don't want to disappear into a bunker forever, because you will be disappointed, it seems. And there is neither thanks, nor consideration, nor honor. Who "weakens" is dropped mercilessly and has his bunker better already ready for occupancy. They want your soul and identity, not your opinions or your cool being for a frienship or such. Its simply a totaly unpersonal connection, that they will will form. Unpersonal in terms of interrest in personality, but very personal, because the conection will contain your soul.

[@headsails]

It's so odd that people equate DR with being radical yet this is really just normal in my neighborhood.

[@bladdnun3016]

Radical means looking for the root cause (radix) of a problem and getting rid of it, instead of just treating symptoms. Really just common sense, if you ask me.

[@andromadaus]

Scratching my tilted head wondering why I haven't heard of this irreverent, relevant teacher/speaker until now. •¿•?

[@kyrie9610]

it genuinely blows my mind how Douglas is not one of the most well know and respected theorists of our time, his opinions are some of the most important I have ever heard

[@WBrizzle81]

Very good speech. He does a great job of posing questions many have never thought of. Here's where I start to push back. I was watching an interview he gave on another platform. He mentioned natalism. Inadvertently - I don't think he intended to do this - he effectively framed this "billionaire mentality" as an incel or incel adjacent mentality. As he talked about it, it seemed to continue in that direction. So okay, a man whose formative years have been such that he was never selected for reproduction is going to have a particular framework for his worldview. He's only known life as a reproductive loser. He's been harmed by what appears to be a fundamental reality of reproductive competition, so apparently, "life is competition." This is a rough idea I'm piecing together. It just seems to make sense.

[@davidg11235]

I think the mention of natalism was in the context of some of these billionaires having fantasies of having lots of kids post-apocalypse and repopulating the Earth. To me this is just one of a list of weird ideas about what should happen in the future that they sometimes have, like: they should live forever (technology should make them immortal); they need to propagate their genes (the scientism thing, taking the selfish gene literally); it would be a good thing if a big proportion of the population died, because of overpopulation, or we should stop people from having kids or maybe only breed the best of us; or, on the flip side, the human race is going to die out due to not enough babies being born (Elon Musk says this). Like the AI apocalypse, like the Singularity, like the bunker fantasy, it’s mostly brain farts.

[@hehehehohohohohoho31]

I think I understand where you're coming from. I don't know Mr. Douglas's story enough to make a comparison, but ultimately if there is a social circle, there will be a social hierarchy. this is true whether you create that social circle to cultivate your narcissistic needs, or you just join one wherever. The difference, I believe is that when a billionaire fantasizes about the perfect life and they envision that inspired from their trauma, they have actual power to change millions of lives around the world for better or worse. like when he said on some other interview, when bill Gates donated mosquito nets to South Africa because he knew there was a malaria problem there and people started using those nets to catch fish, but there was poison greased on the net , just a little bit to kill the mosquitos when they get caught, which built up in the river overtime and poisoned the fish till they were all dead. Oops! A well intended gesture turned apocalypse scenario real quick. these people want nothing to do with humanity , they are busy creating the dream world they envision quite literally. not being accepted in a social circle in a random neighborhood or school or workplace, don't have the same repercussions. and in all my experiences with troubled youth I have found that incel ideology is greatly fueled by these corporate social media platforms, a little rejection turning into utter shattering of one's self image, which gets fueled and fueled and fueled till you see above average looking guys going on a murdering spree because they think hierarchical structure of the human society have cast them as rejects and they want revenge, when in reality even a guy like Denny devito can make it in Hollywood, the biggest superficial system in the world. It's all about social skills and like this guy says, they are not being taught and people are getting more distant from their communities where they would usually pick up acceptable social behaviours. Add self hatred to the mix and you get a guy that is tormented beyond belief by his own superstitions about his own place in the world, which get fueled everyday by equally delusional people. Maybe what you're saying was more in the lines of 'what about when we turn to real-life we don't actually find our place enjoyable?' in which case this is just anxiety:)

[@Kid_Ikaris]

Women, Paganism, Nature, Mushrooms 🍄? Wait a second I'm not a loser.... I'm living a life that actually has a viable future. Half joking/half genuinely having an Epiphany.

[@sensorycircuits1338]

Billionaires want to travel to far off planets in the middle of nowhere. Fun fact, Earth is in fact a far off planet in the middle of nowhere.

[@truthaboveall7988]

We think of humans that way - as the US naively tells us India will “replace China” simply b cuz they aren’t exploited fully yet & China’s model won’t allow us to exploit the way we expected them to - they stuck w Marx & socialism & much to our horror they r better at capitalism than we r

[@janklaas6885]

📍39:00 2📍26:05

[@monksnack7293]

This guy doesn't know how or why the American school education was invented. Or does he 🤔? If you want to know, see John Taylor Gatto's "Underground History of American Education". It's frustrating to hear these types of speakers be ignorant or deceptive about the underpinnings of American Education. Come on, People!

[@maryheidenberger1965]

I believe that he is talking the ideal of education -

[@backpackmatt]

This guy acts more like a royal court jester for the Uber-Rich.

[@geoffworley5275]

is that good or bad?

[@backpackmatt]

@@geoffworley5275 well yeah of course

[@mindsindialogue]

"doing with your hands" as Douglas Rushkoff alluded to is constituted as technology. Philosophy of Technology makes the connection irrefutable.

[@DavidSiegelVision]

Entertaining! But if Doug doesn't understand the mechanics of venture fund cash flow, then he may have gotten a few other things wrong.

[@dickybannister5192]

uh huh. I'm guessing you were kinda lost then, as whether he does, or doesnt understand some made up bullshit stuff is the point... who cares?

[@looseunit9180]

I’m guessing you’re on the spectrum Dave. No offence

[@DMT4Dinner]

Every time a presenter says “right?” an angel loses their… attention to pay

[@NancyLebovitz]

Ruskoff is a delightful speaker, but are people left to themselves actually that trustworthy? Consider Take That to a Small Town-- I've been hearing a lot lately (and plausibly) that small towns can be horrible, but that's the kind of social order a lot of people make.

[@chrisnolan7423]

Wait so until metal the people hunting with rocks didn't realize that they could impose their will on other humans only the nonhuman animals? Really can't be that simple minded.

[@kyrie9610]

i believe that point might have been more about the weight of the cultural symbolism that was created for the first time when people started making literal locks, and chains… for those products to be invented says a lot about the culture who feels the need to invent them

[@jasonvancleve8140]

Mad drivel.

[@carlloeber]

Do young people actually believe this stuff? And then you have to talk like a teenager too with effing this and effing that? What he's saying is silly. The billionaires can't even spend a billion dollars on themselves.. it's not possible. Why don't you just focus on Elon Musk

[@kyrie9610]

what are you even trying to say.

[@dickjohnson8578]

You have to abolish the stock market to solve a lot of these problems he’s talking about. Which will never happen.

[@dickybannister5192]

the part about the "womb" and it "knows what they want even before they know it themselves" is kind of almost a direct quote from... (its a film about being in service and its requirements)