this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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[–] ZeroGravitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 31 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (8 children)

As I was reading this, I disappeared in a flash of light and landed in 1945. But I have a plan.

  • Learn acoounting, get a job, grind for 10 or so years
  • Start investing in Ford, GE etc. and wait for the compound interest to kick in
  • Buy a farm, continue to invest. Retire "early"
  • Grow a beard, get some white hair paint
  • Travel to "relatives" in Australia for 6 months every year
  • While in Australia, get rid of beard, set up alternative identity as my own nephew, get involved in fledgling computer domain, invest
  • Back home, take up fishing, end up disappearing at sea one day, nephew inherits everything
  • I am nephew. Got enough money now to stop working, buy a vineyard in NZ, spend 6 months in the year abroad
  • Invest in IBM, I should be filthy rich by now
  • Hire professionals to set up a dozen or so alternate identities in English speaking countries. Kill nephew, avoid Australia for the next 20 years
  • Numbered Swiss accounts, different looks, pro theatre makeup, the works. By now my 10+ offshore companies own 10% of Berkshire Hathaway between them
  • Rotate identities as needed. Invest in the dot com bubble from 100+ offshore shell companies. Cash in and buy tech stocks after the crash. I am now richer than God, but still not intervene in not-yet-current affairs
  • No posh events, no media, no socials ffs. My ghosts come and go. I own a few law firms that take care of business and identity management. When suspicions arise, I change countries. Ireland works for a while. I now own 10-20% of all major tech companies, because I bought them before it was cool
  • I get into crypto early. Money has no meaning anymore. I mark the days and months remaining to May 19, 2026, when all of this began. I need to insert myself into my old life right as past me begins the journey, will probably feign a nasty flu afterwards to get back on track. Small price to pay for total freedom

And here we are. Money wise, I own about half the world and now I can finally act. Where should I start?

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)
[–] ZeroGravitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Not yet, but it's about to be. Just watch the dominoes and remember me.

[–] Atropos@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Please dump enough "political contributions" into us politics to get intelligent, empathetic, progressive people in charge.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's pretty rare for good people to become immensely wealthy and stay good people. Money corrupts, and once you're to a point where money is no longer survival but a high score, that starts to drive your thinking.

[–] Atropos@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Absolutely correct.

Maybe immortality, infinite wealth, and a hundred year long life won't corrupt THIS person?

Brb gotta go pray to the Easter bunny ..

Living 81 years with the prospect of annihilation if one rocks the boat too much will change a man. Likewise honing the kind of duplicitous skills required to simply survive the attention of the world.

So, would my moral compass stay intact? If I don't work at it, no - I'm under no illusion that it would. What I expect to happen is that I would continue to avoid the public eye. But once the shackles are off, there's no telling where this goes.

Stepping out of this role for a bit, if I had that kind of wealth today, what would I invest in? Education and science. Press freedom. Rule of law. Anti-poverty programs (part of education). Probably others too, but those are the essentials.

"If you vary the timeline too much, you will cease to exist."

Even if you want to be altruistic enough to sacrifice yourself for the good of humanity, you'll be wiped out long before you're able to change enough to lead to lasting improvement.

[–] NABDad@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] meco03211@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Get fucked peasant!

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Super excellent. The only notes to add:

Steal and cycle through 2 new US identities every 10 years. Always churn new idienties faster than you expect. You can be Bob age 20, Jerry age 30 and Sid age 40 in LA, Chicago, and NYC, respectively, at the same time.

Start a shell company where all your identities are the board. Use it to buy land in LA and NYC.

Gamble for supplemental income.

[–] ZeroGravitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

At no point did my plans involve setting foot on US soil. Too many three letter agencies for my liking.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Fair. However, there's a lot of runway before that really gets problematic. You can move things offshore prior to 2000 and be perfectly fine.

[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Funny seeing you here, surprised you didn’t say you’d go back to when we were enslaving and committing genocide on native Americans and capturing and torturing people in Africa.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

Fun fact: you can talk about things that happened without endorsing or condoning the things that happened.

You'll notice that I didn't say anything about genocide or the slave trade being good.

Edit:ah yes, you're the very stable genius that told me to "go die" recently. Very classy.

Like, do you need to talk to someone? You don't seem OK.

[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Sure, that’s a great explanation as to why you used slavery as an example to justify shackling and limiting sentient A.I. and called it great.

Maybe don’t use condoning language if you’re not condoning something, cause that shit was racist as fuck, no matter how you try to contextualize it.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Look, I'm sorry that you're still not understanding that taking about terrible things that humans in power did, and still do, to exploit other humans, doesn't mean I'm saying that's good.

It seems like you might be misunderstanding mid-sentence sarcasm as... being a fan of genocide and slavery? WTF is wrong with you? Read the room. Read with context. It's an explanation that companies that exploit people will seamlessly transition to exploiting AGI.

I can't tell if you're genuinely stupid or just trying to be the worst internet troll. Either way, you're really behaving quite inappropriately, sound like a fool, and are not good enough at understanding English to use your misunderstanding as a reason to cyberstalk and bully someone.

[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 0 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

You might need to learn the definition of that word before you try using it. And I don't mean "very."

[–] NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe don’t write out three paragraphs if you’re trying to pretend you’re not being defensive.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 1 points 10 hours ago

lol, ok, buddy. Whatever you say.

[–] Sektor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Kill Jimmy Savile, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Epstein, so on.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Then you don't survive, you cease to exist

[–] Sektor@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Like for real or because you became a killer you lost your humanity?

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No because of the rules of the hypothetical posed in this post

[–] Sektor@lemmy.world 0 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

Indeed. Lame rules.

[–] Masamune@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hey, are you the guy who "lost" that hard drive full of Bitcoin in the landfill?

[–] ZeroGravitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 19 hours ago

It was one of my minions. Poor sod. If he finds it, he can keep it. For me, that's a rounding error. .

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

ALL OF THAT, JUST FOR A SAFE CAREER IN ACTING?!

[–] ZeroGravitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Let's just be excellent to each other, ok?

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 0 points 1 day ago

Ftting into your current life when you make it to the present would be noticable since you would've aged 81 years in the meantime.