Comment by reaperducer

Have the elites through history always been this insecure or is it a modern phenomenon?

It's always been this way, more or less.

If you look back at the ultra-wealthy in any age, you'll find just these sorts of people. It's in 20th-century literature. It's in classic literature. It's in the Bible. It's probably in ancient Greek literature, but I'm not well-versed there.

At least in the early part of the last century, there was some hope. A number of ultra-wealthy people decided that instead of building a faster steam engine or racing to pump more oil, they'd engage in benefiting society as an alternative penis-measuring contest.

They were happy to pour the equivalent of today's billions into projects like paying artists to spend 30 years documenting the fading culture of the American Indian, or funding scientific expeditions to improve our understanding of ancient history.

Today's billionaires are, instead, trying to one-up each other on getting 12-year-old girls addicted to their apps.

Yay, progress.