This Time For Sure
Another promise of prosperity based on the trickle down theory
According to the New York Times, 70% of the stock market gains over the last three years can be attributed to the ‘Magnificent 7’ comprised of Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla and Apple.1 What do they have in common? All of them are betting big on A.I. and promise of replacing human workers with virtual A.I. bots or actual humanoid robots.
From the perspective of a business owner the appeal of replacing human employees with automatons is clear. No more health insurance, vacations, unions, salaries, etc. Essentially a tech based version of slavery.
Of course this presents a problem for society as a whole. What happens to workers who are displaced by these techno-slaves? According to Elon Musk the increases in productivity will result in an unimaginable level of abundance which will make work optional.2
“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years, it won’t matter.” - Elon Musk
Although this may be possible it’s highly unlikely. In the first place, A.I. has yet to deliver on the promise of capable workers.3 And Generative A.I. based on Large Language Models (LLM) is increasingly coming under attack as a dead end.4
But more importantly, since the Reagan era, increases in productivity have failed to trickle down to workers as promised. Instead they have trickled up, creating a huge increase in wealth inequality and a struggling working class.5
The only solution to this imbalance is for government to tax and re-distribute wealth, which will require major changes. It’s time for working people of all political persuasions to join together to dismantle the current oligarchy run by billionaires and their fascist and neo-liberal enablers and replace it with a government that reflects the intentions of our founders.
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
- Abraham Lincoln