“We are raising funds to support a critical legal defense in the fight against unchecked corporate power and a system that continues to favor the few over everyone else. This case isn’t just about one individual—it’s about challenging a status quo that protects the interest of the powerful at the expense of justice and fairness,” read one of the fundraising pages that was quickly removed by GoFundMe.
I actually don’t expect CEOs and billionaires to make any concessions. Honestly, this is how I imagine the next few years going:
Right now, billionaires are waking up to the fact that the majority of Americans want them dead. CEOs will start beefing up security while politicians and pundits try to spin this, and they’ll all hope this was a one-off. It won’t be. Sure, there probably won’t be another assassin who escapes and leads police on a five day manhunt, but there will surely be a guy with an AR-15 who takes out billionaire or CEO before getting gunned down himself by cops or private security.
Billionaires will start lobbying for protections from Congress, probably through special treatment from federal law enforcement and a push for gun control. This will only further enrage the public, who have faced mass shootings in schools and churches without any response. On top of that, the Trump administration is gearing up for an era of naked corruption, which is going to make the billionaire class even less popular
All in all, I think we’re heading towards a period of political instability and violence. Maybe it will end with public rage being channeled into a series of reforms like FDR managed with the New Deal. Maybe we’ll devolve even further into oligarchy and authoritarianism as American society collapses. Either way, I think there will be radical change.
Anyway, that’s my theory. Maybe I’m wrong, and this will be a blip, but I don’t think so. This feels like a very different, very significant moment.