You're thinking too small. The singularity is here, time for Bezos et al to upload and reap their datacenterly rewards.
Roarke hoarding all those biscuits without uncrating them: "I'll be glad I have these one of these days".
Oh yes the nostalgia of old privileged men is a reliable guide to the reality of the past. USSR was a totalitarian ideological empire, rather like the US.
Famous politicians tend to be narcissistic sociopaths, and looking for validation from a narcissistic sociopath is a dead end.