It reminds me of Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich (2001). She gave a pretty good sense of the structural powerlessness experienced by low-wage workers 25 years ago, but now it seems to be experienced by an entire generation. And they’re hearing the same myths of “just work harder.”

So of course a man like Summers would fraternize with a man like Epstein. And a man like Trump would surround himself with men like Musk and Thiel and Miller and Yarvin.

All delicate egos swathed in delusion to justify their sense of entitlement, which only proves the inadequacy of their intellect.

And it’s unsurprising that this world would be so attracted to delusional beliefs like race pseudoscience and biological essentialism. There’s always a desperation to keep that myth of genius propped up in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

I’ve always attributed this hyperbole of “wunderkinds” and “geniuses” to VC-speak, where the marketing pitch is treated as truth. Think of all the start-up founders characterized as unique geniuses who’ve since turned out to be grifters, frauds, and incompetents.