Generally speaking the solution to these sorts of things when one doesn't want it is "then don't use it." That's especially true in a federated, decentralized system like this.
The most recent test launch was just a few seconds of engine firing short of reaching orbital velocity, it would have made it if not for an apparent oxygen leak. The next test rocket has been doing static fire tests already, and it has a cargo door and rack capable of launching Starlink V2 satellites so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they send up a few on it.
It depends on why they're being quiet. In this scenario I think it'd be likely that they're being quiet for some reason that's literally incomprehensible to human-level minds, since they're likely millions or billions of years more advanced than we are. So it's impossible to predict what, if anything, might provoke them to break that silence.
I guess sending a probe there and having it physically poke them might get some kind of reaction, at least.
That's not been my experience. It'll tend to be agreeable when I suggest architecture changes, or if I insist on some particular suboptimal design element, but if I tell it "this bit here isn't working" when it clearly isn't the real problem I've had it disagree with me and tell me what it thinks the bug is really caused by.
And I'm pointing out how this "most plausible scenario" ends in ruin for Reddit. If Reddit's most popular subs are being run by people whose literally only qualification for the role is that they are power hungry, what kind of subreddit will those end up being? The mods won't be doing anything to cultivate the quality of the place, they likely won't even know what "quality" is. They'll just come up with a bunch of rules to enforce, throwing their weight around pointlessly and alienating anyone who sticks around long enough to interact with them. They probably won't even be good "janitor" moderators because proper janitoring is a lot of hard work that doesn't necessarily result in you receiving the sort of adulation that a power-hungry person would actually crave. Why spend hours dealing with meaningless spam that only bots will see you blocking when you get more of a thrill from bossing around people who slipped up on some technicality or rule that you implemented primarily so that people would slip up on them?
And if the admins try ordering you to do the spam-patrol grunt work with the threat of kicking you out, well, you don't actually care. They're not paying you and you have no interest in the community itself. Rinse and repeat.
Ironically enough, Elon Musk - posterboy of "rich fuckheads" - actually does live in proximity to his workers. I read a while back that he'd sold off all his houses and lived in the same rental properties that his on-site engineers used.
If the "1%" was to suddenly magically die, that would just mean that the 2% becomes the new 1% and carries on. I think there needs to be a more fundamental change. Something better than capitalism will need to come along, and so far it's hard to say that any of the alternatives we currently have fit the bill.
Well, I won't say I think there's no risk at all. AI is advancing rapidly and in very surprising ways. But I expect that most of the jobs that AI is currently "replacing" will actually still survive in some related form. When sewing machines were invented it didn't poof tailors out of existence, they started doing other things. The invention allowed people to be able to own way more clothing than they did before, so fashion design became a bigger thing. Etc.
Even if AIs get really good at psychology there'll still be people who are best handled by a human. Heck, you might end up with an AI "boss" that decides which cases those would be and give you suggestions on how to handle them, but your own training will likely still be useful.
If you want to be really future-proof then make sure to set aside some savings and think about alternate careers that you might enjoy keeping abreast of as hobbies just in case something truly drastic happens to your primary field.
Another fun fact; the Red River is very prone to spring flooding because it flows such a great distance north. The headwaters thaw out and start flowing while the river's outlet is still frozen over. Many cities and towns in Manitoba have dikes around them and turn into islands during the spring flood. Winnipeg has a flood diversion canal to guide the floodwaters past it each spring.
I think I just ran out of fun facts about Manitoba.