Build a time machine. Go back about 15 years and prop up the Soviet Union. I’m a soldier and I’m fascinated by their military hardware and the Cold War days in general. What if…
…the Sukhoi S-37 went into frontline service 5 years ago? (forward-swept wing prototype fighter)
…they had squadrons of massive Ekranoplan cargo carriers?
…they had stealth fighters and bombers to rival ours?
…we felt the need to push our own R&D further to counter theirs?
OK, on a more practical note, I would have every light fixture on the planet converted to a more “dark-sky friendly” type. I have lived in or near big cities most of my life. I’m in the New Mexico desert for a while and the night sky blows my mind. On moonless nights we can see the Milky Way. If I could give billions for for people to see this, I would.
I would fly somewhere, anywhere, say, Maryland. And I would buy all the pants in the entire state. No one in Maryland can wear pants without going through me! BWA HA HA HA HA!!
I’ll join in the “buy a country” crowd. Possibly the Bahamas, Belize, or Trinidad & Tobago.
I’d take a few friends, give them billions per year, and ask them to produce useful interstellar travel.
I’ll fund the R&D of all the Dopers’ efforts to build a time machine. Then fund some historical research, artifact replication, and language & culture lessons. Then train a small research team and outfit us with cameras. Then go spend the High Holidays in Jerusalem, during the Second Temple period.
Fund a massive effort to wean transportation off the oil standard. And while I’m at it, let’s develop commercial-grade nuclear fusion power.
And to swipe a line from Douglas Adams: I’ll endow a foundation, which forever will throw THE BIGGEST PARTY EVER on my birthday!
I would spend a couple of years travelling around riding the world’s best roller coasters. Then fund the construction of a couple of ultimate coasters (cost is no object).
I would throw some mega parties in fabulous places – fly my loved ones in and hire people like Springsteen to provide the musical entertainment.
I always wondered what would happen if you flew a jet into a (empty) skyscraper. Buying a skyscraper and then flying a remote control jet into it just to see what would happen. That would be a quick and pointless waste of a billion dollars.
Since we know what would happen now. I guess I would like to see how many strategically placed hand grenades it would take to blow up the moon.
Buy up all the advertising on the Radio. Everyone could enjoy commecial free radio. Just doing my part for the betterment of mankind! Then Over to Ultrafilter’s Pad for a Party!
And then found my own country—The A.S.T.N.–Antarctic Sub-Terrainian Nation!
A brainwashed harem of Supermodels might fit in there somewhere. No. If you got billion$, the Supermodels swarm around , cooing, flirting, facinating, & trying to brainwash you.
I would buy the rights to the entire Star Wars franchise from George Lucas (this might cost more than any of the previous proposals in this thread). I would then have a team of commandos travel the world, destroy every copy of the “Special Edition” trilogy, and replace them with the fully restored, digitally remastered, Han-shooting-first original trilogy. I would also have Episodes I and II destroyed and hire a new director to create Episodes I-III from scratch.
Oh, and I would buy a city, like say, Boston and force everyone to leave. Then I would purchase a Carrier group and a mechanized infantry battalion (or just pay to have them built for me) and use my little private army to have paintball games like nobody’s ever seen or heard about.
