[jauntywundrkind]

Much easier to do when you exist 40ms and a firewall away from the world. The cloud companies ability to not share the experience of those using the service, to be remote, is a much greater retreat than what was possible 101 years ago, it feels like.

[ryandrake]

The leadership team of Meta (and all other giant mega corps) are much more isolated from the real world than 40ms and a firewall. These people don't interact in any way with normal people. They live in a different world than us, and don't even think about us, let alone wonder if their actions are hurting us. Do you think Zucc does his own shopping and has to interact with store employees? Do you think he talks to any of the staff of plumbers, electricians, HVAC repair people, gardeners, who maintain his homes? Do you think he flies commercial and sits next to randos in business class? Do you think he goes down to the DMV and stands in line to renew his driver's license? These guys have staff in their orbit who arrange for all these things to just magically happen, so royalty doesn't have to come into direct contact with the commoners. The billionaire class is thoroughly insulated from us through multiple layers of staff and staff of staff.

[wiseowise]

> Do you think he talks to any of the staff of plumbers, electricians, HVAC repair people, gardeners, who maintain his homes?

Believe it or not, but yes. I remember overseeing his terrarium while he was still a small lizard, barely hatched from an egg.

[chrisrogers]

The billionaire class can do those things, but they don't have to. Same with non-celebrity Royalty.

[dboreham]

There are some reasons they may have to: risk of being kidnapped, risk of random people bothering them for money, risk of random crazy people attacking them, illogicality of waiting hours in a TSA line for no other reason than "that's what poor people do".

[boca_honey]

Exactly. If I was one of those people, no one but my 30-50 most trusted friends and family members would be allowed 100 yards near me.

I would be afraid for my safety 24/7, for my children's... For my private life (I would never talk about my personal opinions to anyone outside of my immediate family). Etc.

Think Taylor Swift in Walmart. She could probably get trampled over and die (no joke). Zuckerberg or Gates in a bar or a county fair? Probably beaten to death or shot.

It's easy for us to imagine they live isolated from regular people because they think they're better than us (although they probably think that)... But the reality is that regular people are dangerous for this kind of people.

[phs318u]

> Zuckerberg or Gates in a bar or a county fair? Probably beaten to death or shot.

I think you’re probably right about these two. However if I try and imagine someone like, say, Warren Buffet or Jimmy Carter at a public place like that I think they’d do ok. The difference being of course that they’re not arseholes.

[miki123211]

Hence why I don't think private jets are such a bad idea.

Imagine getting anywhere near Taylor Swift (landside) in an airport terminal when on tour. She wouldn't be the only one trampled.

[alterom]

They don't have to.

But they do.

[simpaticoder]

I hear lots of talk about concentration of power, but too little about its amplification. It was a quieter world before amplifiers, both literally and figuratively.

[elmomle]

It has been discussed for generations, but unsurprisingly the people with the megaphones don't tend to promote that angle.

https://inist.org/library/1982-03-21.Illich.Silence%20is%20a...

[normie3000]

> when you exist 40ms and a firewall away from the world

That sure is an impressive ping!