Technology has the potential to flip the board, just like it did in that brief decade or two spanning the Silver Age of the Internet. The powers that be were caught completely unaware and it took them a decade to scramble for internet supremacy (which they still have not yet fully succeeded in).
- Who cares if the rich own all the houses, when you can 3D print a couple of rooms?
- Who cares if the energy grid is being deliberately dismantled for private gain, when you can live off your own cheap solar and a week-long battery?
- Who cares if Nestlé buys all the fresh drinking water, if we can desalinate our own?
- Who cares if the schools fall apart, if we can learn everything from free resources?
- Who needs universal health care, if printable medical robots and drugs can fix us?
One pattern I keep seeing with the rich, is that they're only *slightly* ahead of the game. It's enough to keep them in power, but only under ceteris paribus constraints. Technology is the wildcard that can upset everything, because who can regulate technology? No one.
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I like your line of thought with this, and I think it extends beyond technology too. A "hobby" of mine is just learning general life skils that I never really got exposed to. I've been learning to garden, cook with homegrown/foraged ingredients, and brew/distil some of my own drinks. Also bushcraft stuff, but that's not really a replacement for modern living. None of these things will make a huge difference in my standard of living, but I like knowing I could scrape by with less money if (when) a bad recession hits.