Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Come on, man.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

The willow is too close to the house.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Our Failed Plutocracy Open Thread: Where Is John Galt’s ‘Flying Dutchman’ ?

Our Failed Plutocracy Open Thread: Where Is John Galt’s ‘Flying Dutchman’ ?

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Were I chosen Empress of Everything, one of my first projects — and not just for personal satisfaction — would be selecting the 39 miscreants most deserving of eternal exile on the ‘World’s first ‘yacht liner’’. Zuckerberg and his bro-pack (along with Peter Thiel, Erik Prince, Rebekah Mercer, et al) would certainly be among the top-ranking contenders…

… Measuring an impressive 728 feet, Somnio is to be the largest yacht in the world “by both length and volume” when it launches in 2024.

Somnio, which means “to dream ” in Latin, was devised by Winch Design and Tillberg Design of Sweden, and is to be built by Norwegian ship designer and builder VARD at a cost of around $600 million.

The gigantic vessel will be fitted with 39 apartments across six floors, as well as restaurants, bars and an onboard beach club.

However, the purchasing process is “by invitation or referral only,” with apartment prices starting at over $11 million. A spokesperson for the project confirms to CNN Travel that some have already been snapped up…

Each of the 39 apartments is to include “bespoke features” based on the buyer’s preferences, but a gym, a library, as well as inside and outside dining spaces are likely to be provided, according to a press release from Winch Design.

The designers behind Somnio believe it will offer those who splash out on one of its luxury properties the same level of service as a “seven-star” hotel, along with the huge benefits of owning a superyacht.

Health concerns have also been taken into consideration, particularly in in light of the pandemic, and the team stress that “world class medical care” will be available onboard, while pointing out that those on board will likely be kept “away from pandemics and other global risks.” …

Dr. Ronny Jackson will lead the healthcare service, and all the best sycophants from the political & media worlds — Chris Cillizza, Maggie Haberman, Jason *and* Stephen Miller, Sarah Huckerbee Sanders — will be assigned to provide the culinary, cleaning, and related services. But since the ship will never be allowed to make landfall, an actual trained crew of sailors & engineers will be rotated to the ship by helicopter, for the sake of the rest of us.

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    actual trained crew of sailors & engineers will be rotated to the ship by helicopter, for the sake of the rest of us.

    Why would you provide them with sailors and engineers?

  3. 3.

    FelonyGovt

    I think I would like to assign Mr. E. Musk to that yacht as well. SpaceX is a major employer and source of pride in my area, but I think it can run just fine now (maybe better) without him.

  5. 5.

    kindness

    $11M starting price to live in a floating petri dish with only the most exclusive scum around as neighbors?  What could possibly go wrong with this picture?

  6. 6.

    trollhattan

    On-board documentary team is required to capture firefights between security teams of feuding billionaires.

  7. 7.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore: Why would you provide them with sailors and engineers?

    Because I don’t want the plague yacht crashing into Miami Beach, the Bahamas, or some other unfortunate port, duh!

  10. 10.

    Comrade Colette

    Can we dig up Sheldon Adelson, stick Thurston Howell III’s hat on him, and call him the skipper?

  12. 12.

    Anne Laurie

    @Cheryl Rofer: What is the thing that Zuckerberg is riding on and how is it controlled?

    It’s an electric surfboard, and from what I’ve read (not much) it’s controlled via a wireless wristband.

    Presumably, there are japesters working on hacking those wristbands, but I’m sure Zuckerberg’s private playground is isolated enough to make him an unlikely victim…

  13. 13.

    Spanky

    I only hope we can get the Gilligan’s Island/Survivor/Lost mashup that that yacht project so richly deserves.

  14. 14.

    GrumpyOldMan

    I have a sudden urge to start pricing out military surplus torpedo boats.

  15. 15.

    VeniceRiley

    Let’s crowdfund a speedboat packed with explosives… or a sub. There has to be some perfectly good used subs on the market.

  16. 16.

    piratedan

    maybe we can utilize it like they repurposed the old battleship in the Japanese anime Space Battleship Yamato and then launch it into the sun…. directly.

  17. 17.

    trollhattan

    Well shee-yutt, here we go again.
    Friday
    Sunny and hot, with a high near 106.
    Friday Night
    Clear, with a low around 71. Saturday
    Sunny and hot, with a high near 110.
    Saturday Night
    Clear, with a low around 73.
    Sunday
    Sunny and hot, with a high near 108.
    Third time this summer we’ll hit 110, FWIW a temp we’d never seen in June before and have managed twice.

  19. 19.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Folks – I’ve noticed for the past few days too many fantasies of death and destruction to those we consider enemies. Just stop. It’s not good for the blog.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    while pointing out that those on board will likely be kept “away from pandemics and other global risks.” …

    Such as Anne Laurie’s wrath.

  25. 25.

    mrmoshpotato

    @debbie:

    Is that Bezos’s yacht or a floating condo community?

    Either way, I’m all for it sinking.

    ETA – with no loss of life.  But millions of dollars worth of ship going to the bottom?  Yes please.

  28. 28.

    Gvg

    I don’t care about these people. Tax them yes. Make them obey laws and face normal justice yes. But posting a stupid video of themselves singing badly, who cares. Other people do it too.

    I also don’t bother fantasizing things about who I hate the most. I want Trump and company in jail because I think they broke laws. I expect long careful investigations and fair trails because that is the right way and I would like the same for myself if I was accused of something.

    it is more to the point to yell about Zuckebergs Facebook policies and misuses, not singing videos.

  31. 31.

    cain

    I just wish to have these people pay their share of taxes and stop trying to bring down the republic. I don’t really care beyond that.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    @cain:

    I just wish to have these people pay their share of taxes and stop trying to bring down the republic. I don’t really care beyond that. 

    And be held accountable for any laws they’ve broken.

  36. 36.

    WhatsMyNym

    If you’re a billionaire, why would you be remotely interested in being stuck on this thing with a bunch of strangers. Definitely for the lower class multi millionaire.

  40. 40.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Cheryl Rofer: In my view, the turn to violent thought comes despairing of democratic processes being effective.  I strongly disagree with the idea that we cannot win by nonviolent, democratic means and thus I disagree with the violent turn.  But for those who really don’t believe we can win, is this turn surprising?

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WhatsMyNym:

    If you’re a billionaire, why would you be remotely interested in being stuck on this thing with a bunch of strangers. Definitely for the lower class multi millionaire. 

    Because it’s “exclusive.”

    Oo la ?

  43. 43.

    CaseyL

    I don’t think this is a new thing, or rather it’s an extension of a thing I’ve heard about before:  luxury ocean liners that are intended for people to live on.  The ones I’ve heard about before started at $2 million per unit, each unit was custom designed, and you could hop on and off at various ports of call to  your heart’s content.

    It was not a bad idea: priced for the rich, yes, but not priced for the toxic rich, as this particular venture seems to be.

    I don’t remember many details, like whether the ship had an itinerary, or how the itinerary was decided on.  One assumes there were the equivalent of HOA fees, and a ship’s crew…. a lot of potentially messy details.

    It’s possible the original idea didn’t fly – the messy details being too expensive for the original price point – and this is what it became.

    PS: No need to wish ill on them. Living on an ocean liner is chock full of epidemiological, weather, and life support risks – not to mention the potential risks of pirates, kidnappers, and disaffected crew members – to just let life its own self sort things out.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    @satby:

    I heard Toyota whining about this a while ago, but the LP seems to have succeeded before they even started:

    and Toyota blinked.
    No money for sedition members
    Said they listened to their stake holders
    — Mary coogan (@Marycoogan16) July 8, 2021

  45. 45.

    Scout211

    Interesting. Toyota today: https://pressroom.toyota.com/toyota-statement-on-pac-contributions/

    Toyota is committed to supporting and promoting actions that further our democracy. Our company has long-standing relationships with Members of Congress across the political spectrum, especially those representing our U.S. operations. Our bipartisan PAC equally supports Democrats and Republicans running for Congress. In fact, in 2021, the vast majority of the contributions went to Democrats and Republicans who supported the certification of the 2020 election. We understand that the PAC decision to support select Members of Congress who contested the results troubled some stakeholders. We are actively listening to our stakeholders and, at this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those Members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election.

  46. 46.

    mrmoshpotato

    @JPL:

    The republicans are against the wealthy being audited.    It’s depressing to say the least.

    Yup and yup.  I’ve always wondered how much money would make them happy (Yes – all of it.) And does Mittens really need 30 houses?

  49. 49.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Scout211:

    We are actively listening to our stakeholders and, at this time, we have decided to stop contributing to those Members of Congress who contested the certification of certain states in the 2020 election. 

    Weasely motherfuckers as I noted in an earlier thread.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    Reminds me of “The World” (built in 2002):

    […]

    Studios cost – USD 600,000 (initially sold at USD 90,000). Two-Bedroom (Ocean Residence) apartments cost – USD 2-3 million. Suites cost ~USD 12-13 million (initially sold at USD 6 million).

    Short-term rentals – you can rent some of MS The World’s apartments (depending on category) for between ~USD 550 Studio (per person per night, min for 5 days) and ~USD 20,000 (Suite rentals, per month). Some Ocean Residences are also available for rent – at ~USD 2100 a day. Discounts are available for repeat customers.

    Future apartment owners on The World should also know that ship service fees (depending on the property) start from USD 60,000 and go up to USD 300,000 a year. These fees cover onboard service staff/crew, fuel, maintenance (including drydocking), port charges, food and beverages. USD 8 million is the entry fee. This amount of money buys you a lease expiring in the distant 2052. As to the maintenance fees mentioned above – they are ~5-6% of the Apartment’s sale price. As to the ship’s occupancy – it rarely goes above 200 passengers (owners and their guests).

    The ResidenSea company has the policy of not revealing who the clients/buyers are, but they assure that MS The World doesn’t have residents with criminal records. […]

    Really?

    “Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” – Honoré de Balzac.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  55. 55.

    Starfish

    @debbie: It sounds like rich people float condos. It sounds not unlike The World except at a significantly higher price point.

    I thought that they used to have their pricing listed, but I thought there was also a minimum stay that may have been a month or more. Here is what I can find about the cost now:

    If you’re looking to rent one of these rooms, one night in the studio apartment will cost you between $1300-$2300. Purchasing an apartment on board starts at $2 million, plus the annual maintenance fees which can range from $60 000 to $270 000. If you have to ask ‘how much?’, you probably can’t afford it.

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    @Scout211:

    I’ll hopefully state my lack of enthusiasm for the region’s copious fault collection waking from a long slumber. Been very quiet the last couple decades.

  62. 62.

    TheOtherHank

    @FelonyGovt:  I did some in-depth research on Elon (I read his wikipedia page). We’ll skip over the apartheid blood emerald money. He has two actual acheivments in his bio: he earned an undergrad physics degree (those are challenging) and in the early days of the web he started a company that made travel destination web pages for newspapers. That’s it.
    After he cashed out of his “I’ll write a web page for you” company he invested some of his money in an online bank. That bank got bought out by PayPal (notably, after PayPal had figured out how to this whole online transactions thing).

    After he cashed out of PayPal he invested in Tesla and sued the founders for the right to call himself a founder.

    Then he invested in SpaceX.

    I mean he invests his money well, I’ll give him that. But genius inventor/rocket scientist/engineer? Nope. So, just about any company he runs would do at least as well without him.​

  64. 64.

    Honus

    For the record, John Denver didn’t write Country Roads.  Washington DC’s Bill and Taffy Danoff did.  They were also artist co-credited as Fat City on the single.

  67. 67.

    Procopius

    @Anne Laurie: Because I don’t want the plague yacht crashing into Miami Beach, the Bahamas, or some other unfortunate port, duh!

    Oh, you mean this thing is going to actually move? Why would they want to do that? Who is going to own the thing? Why would people buy an apartment that’s not going to stay in one place? Who is going to decide where it goes? This really supports my hypothesis that there is just so much excess wealth sloshing around the 0.001% that they don’t have any ideas what to do with it.

  69. 69.

    dm

    How many of the units are going to be on Airbnb-platinum, I wonder.

    I suppose things like this condo-liner could find a role as a retirement community, especially if their medical facilities really are excellent. The World seems like a better size and price-point for that, however.

    Be hard to arrange visits from the grand-kids, I expect.

  70. 70.

    Ruckus

    @Roger Moore:

    It’s big, it might take 2.

    US major nuke aircraft carriers are a thousand feet or more in length, this is supposed to be 768 ft long.

  71. 71.

    Urban Suburbanite

    @Procopius: I suspect the actual sales material (not the Costeau quotes and tasteful black and white photos) will mention global risks and vague words about a safe home. Our benevolent tech and financial overlords have some nervousness about our present hellscape, and a lot of them have invested heavily into fortified refuges (they’ve put a lot into New Zealand). This seems a perfect fit for wealthy paranoia.

    There’s also this piece in The Intercept about this author of many terrible, militantly conservative book shaped objects (every protagonist is a ripped, square jawed American who loves Fox and barely tolerated liberal treachery on a good day. And this isn’t a good day….) getting ripped off by a survivalist grifter.

  74. 74.

    Ruckus

    @Procopius:

    If it wasn’t true about the massive excessive wealth sloshing around why would they buy 10-15 or more expensive houses and rarely likely even visit them? Remember John McCain and his (wife’s) 11 houses and he didn’t even know where they all were. At some point it becomes an extremely selfish need to be a bigger dick than everyone else. And it’s a lot less than 20 billion, which among the very wealthy is chump change.

    Remember in/right after WWII the max tax rate was 90% or higher and the rich still got richer than everyone else.

  75. 75.

    The Pale Scot

    A) It will never make port? I don’t think these guys know much about salt water sailing. Unless someone has an open water dry dock I haven’t heard about. I guess they could modify one of those submersible flatbeds like the one that brought the USS Cole home with a hull cradle

    B) This sounds like the Going Galt seagoing city idea, where a saltwater structure is going to be run by people who don’t believe in standards, rules or regulations.

    C) If this thing actually can be maintained without landfall, AL’s version of a vermin barge should be quarantined to the Roaring 40’s

  76. 76.

    Juju

    @kindness: I don’t know what could go wrong, but it certainly would make for an easier target if you had nefarious wishes towards the large expensive communal yacht.  To me it just sounds like an extremely expensive cruise ship.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    You know what the Somnio reminds me of? The survivors’ ship that is the final destination in Michael Bay’s end-of-the-world epic 2012, except that the Somnio is exclusively for bazillionaires.

  78. 78.

    The Pale Scot

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Ok everyone, from now on hexes are limited to rashes, boils, impotence, yeast infections and of course turning their ankles, so we can ID them from the way they walk.

  79. 79.

    The Pale Scot

    @trollhattan:

    That’s just weak, a motorized foil board. Foil boards were devised by the Strapped Crew in Hawaii to tow into big waves when the chop was high. It’s jaw dropping to watch

    Step Into Liquid (2003) The Foilboard

  81. 81.

    HalfAssedHomesteader

    Remind me again, the “huge benefits of owning a superyacht” are…?

  82. 82.

    The Pale Scot

    @Ruckus:

    It’s big, it might take 2.

    Like this thing is going to have a double hull or torpedo bilges. I bet by the time it goes down the ways profusion will have been scaled down to one diesel and one propeller shaft

  86. 86.

    sab

    @dm: Condo complex near my parents had serious security. Motion detectors on all the surrounding walls etc. But no clause that condo owners couldn’t sublet units. So some nitwit rented to an actual burgler. The rest is history.

    Now they have no motion detectors on the walls, but sub-leasing restrictions. And no burgleries.

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    Think of it as $600 million which is not going into R campaign coffers.

    Cherry on top is it will have to rely on satellite internet, which, face it, is kind’a sucky.

  90. 90.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Cheryl Rofer: Folks – I’ve noticed for the past few days too many fantasies of death and destruction to those we consider enemies. Just stop. It’s not good for the blog.

    What she said, and not to mention it not good for one’s soul.  Just look at the other side for what kind of damage being a rageholic does to ones self.

  91. 91.

    Salty Sam

    @Procopius: This really supports my hypothesis that there is just so much excess wealth sloshing around the 0.001% that they don’t have any ideas what to do with it.

    For the past 18 months (at least), my son-in-law has been working on a team of trim carpenters on a single home being built for one of these mega wealthy assholes.  The 20K square foot house is no closer to being finished than it was 18 months ago-  about every two weeks or so, the owners chopper in (sometimes in his and her helicopters), look around and then demand to tear a room out and start over; the entry foyer has been redesigned three times, all custom work, and changes made when the design is near completion.  The mind boggles.

  92. 92.

    Poe Larity

    Poor Zuck. Hated by the left and right, but patriotic enough to let his freak flag fly.

  93. 93.

    BruceJ

    I  cannot believe no one’s referenced Captain Nemo, and the great iron prow of the Nautilus ripping the bottom out of it like tissue paper.

    Because that’s absolutely a thing Captain Nemo would have done. It’s what the Nautilus was built for..

  94. 94.

    Ruckus

    @Salty Sam:

    Hope they are being taken for all they are worth. A 20K sq ft house. I’ve run businesses out of places 1/10 that size. I worked in a 90 employee 3 story building that was about 30K sq ft.

    The number of people that can afford that kind of crap is now larger than it’s ever been while tax collections suffer greatly and some number of the worst cheats have far more than enough that if they get caught and penalized, they won’t even notice it gone.

  95. 95.

    Anya

    Zuck is not a real human, right? He’s visiting us from another planet. He’s on a one alien mission to destroy our planet.

  98. 98.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I can’t be the only one getting Bioshock vibes over the Masters of the Universe trying to recreate Galt’s Gulch, am I?

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