Such an important topic and such a good, insightful look at it. Thanks for your work here. Really scary development, and of course totally unsurprising within this group of people.
Excellent timing. Kismet. I just happened to watch the 1990 Total Recall last night on cable. Others have pointed this out but I am convinced Elmo must have seen this at a formative age and decided to make it reality. We’re stuck in his adolescent wet dream as he embeds himself like a parasite into the fiber of our government and military. There are cars that look like his stupid cybertruck, massive boring vehicles, mind manipulation a la technology (neuralink), Mars is colonized, and of course the supervillain in the movie is an oligarch who hoards all the resources. In the end, the villain dies and the people win. But Arnie isn’t going to save us in this version; we have to do it ourselves.
Excellent and disturbing article Jim. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving despite it all! I look forward to reading your take on the Washington DC National Guard shooting and how the Regime is likely to react.
Hi Jim, I am so grateful for your study, your thoughts, and your sharing of your thoughts and work. I have been obsessed with the background, dark corners, and the people moving in the shadows of this Trump governmental maze since his first run for office in 2015. You have been an incredible help in opening the labyrinth of passages and doors into its structure and the creatures lurking within.
For the past week, I have been obsessing over AI, and then boom: Trump's big “Genesis Mission” is announced. I had learned enough to know who the big players were going to be, and you have now confirmed that: the Thiel Team.
Today, I watched a speech given by Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin. She ultimately focused on AI, but didn't answer my nagging question: What about the people? The planet?
Here is a link to her talk, and my response, where I expose the concerns that I have not found a politician to address or answer. I look forward to your response (sorry for the length).
Link: MI Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivers speech on a new vision for America's National Security
A brilliant and clear overview of where and what we face as a nation!
Now, explain how we can improve the standard of living and grow the shrinking middle class while power-hungry, low-workforce AI facilities receive state tax breaks in massive land deals.
How do we create more well-paying, long-term jobs with solid healthcare and retirement benefits for the average person?
How do we educate the average American for the jobs of the future without a Department of Education?
In the meantime, how do we stop employers from replacing once-valued, mostly low-paid workers with AI specialists and robots?
Some ideas that our state representative should be working on:
— Improving the standard of living and growing the middle class while navigating the challenges posed by AI and concentrated wealth involves a multifaceted approach that incorporates policy changes, investment in human capital, and reform of the tax system.
— Addressing AI, Job Creation, and Standard of Living
To counteract the displacement of workers by AI and create quality jobs, several strategies can be pursued:
Invest in High-Growth Industries: Focus public and private investment in advanced industries such as clean energy technologies, infrastructure modernization, and medical innovation to generate new jobs.
— Boost Worker Bargaining Power: Strengthen labor standards and enforce workers' rights to unionization and collective bargaining. Stronger unions are associated with higher wages and better benefits for both unionized and non-unionized workers.
— Strategic Workforce Planning: Encourage companies to invest in reskilling and upskilling existing talent for roles that are complemented by AI, such as data analysis, programming, and technology management, rather than solely focusing on external hiring or full automation.
— Focus on "AI-Proof" Skills: Promote education and training in fields that require human qualities AI cannot easily replicate, such as social skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, and complex decision-making found in healthcare, education, and personal services.
— Reform Tax Incentives: Re-evaluate and reform state tax breaks and land deals for large, low-workforce AI facilities to ensure they provide a net benefit to the local economy, potentially by tying incentives to specific job creation goals or local investment requirements.
— Implementing Specific Policy Proposals:
Tax Reform:
Increase Taxes on the Wealthy: Proposals include levying a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, increasing the top marginal income tax rate, and closing loopholes that allow wealth gains and transfers to escape taxation (e.g., eliminating the "step-up in basis" on inherited assets).
Social Security Tax: Increasing the Social Security tax base to cover incomes up to $999 million would extend the Medicare Trust Fund's solvency and ensure a broader contribution from high earners.
Minimum Wage: Gradually increasing the federal minimum wage to a living wage across the country is a widely discussed policy to boost incomes for low- and middle-income families, which can also stimulate overall economic demand.
Healthcare for All: Implementing universal healthcare coverage can save middle-class consumers thousands annually on healthcare costs and limit the risk that illness will lead to financial ruin, improving overall financial stability and productivity.
Education and Training:
— Education Focus: Emphasize foundational skills like reading, writing, and math from an early age.
— Future Jobs Training: Develop education and training programs (via community colleges, vocational schools, and business partnerships) for technical, social services, and green jobs. This can be managed at state and local levels through existing educational institutions and workforce development boards, even without a federal Department of Education.
Addressing Political Influence
Reducing the influence of wealthy individuals and corporations ("self-serving Wall Street and Big-Tech billionaires") in government often involves campaign finance reform, lobbying restrictions, and increased transparency in political donations and policy-making processes. Many policy experts note that highly concentrated wealth naturally leads to concentrated political power, eroding the average person's voice in important debates. by adopting a plan like The Transparent Election Initiative: The Montana Plan.
PS: My perspective is not one of opposition to AI; I view it as a powerful tool and even used it as a collaborator in outlining this argument. Yet, the current trajectory of AI development, driven by a few dominant players, demands immediate attention. Robust and ethical regulations are crucial to align AI's expansion with the long-term well-being of the public and our planet.
The energy requirements of AI data centers alone are enough to guarantee the worst cast scenario in terms of global warming, since most of that energy will be from fossil fuels. The more I learn about this the more I'm against AI, period. Of course, it'll be developed to maximum capacity since that's what capitalism does.
Jim, you have become my fave science fiction-not-fiction and psychological thriller author! I bet the fuckers over at Project 2O25 are just downright giddy over this. Big Russ has to be involved somehow.
I've been developing my luddite self for much of my 75 years. Every "advancement" I became aware of made me ask WHY? The current group of developers are especially scary to me because they seem to be united in purpose and arrogance and falsehood and their attempt to rule the world. So, is resistance finally futile?
It seems to me that at some point soon the people controlling the processes you describe will stop pretending they are playing the “Democracy” game. They’ll just declare “Game over,” surround themselves with a palace guard, and declare that we can now go back to work…for them…at whatever conditions they care to declare.
Ohh my Goodness 😱 your article this evening scared the hell out of me!!! What you've written is spot on, it's a road I don't want to travel down. Thank you, here's hoping you and your readers have a good Thanksgiving holiday and will reStack ASAP 🙏
Such an important topic and such a good, insightful look at it. Thanks for your work here. Really scary development, and of course totally unsurprising within this group of people.
Excellent timing. Kismet. I just happened to watch the 1990 Total Recall last night on cable. Others have pointed this out but I am convinced Elmo must have seen this at a formative age and decided to make it reality. We’re stuck in his adolescent wet dream as he embeds himself like a parasite into the fiber of our government and military. There are cars that look like his stupid cybertruck, massive boring vehicles, mind manipulation a la technology (neuralink), Mars is colonized, and of course the supervillain in the movie is an oligarch who hoards all the resources. In the end, the villain dies and the people win. But Arnie isn’t going to save us in this version; we have to do it ourselves.
Well, that was bracing. Happy Thanksgiving! Special thanks to you, Jim, for all your work.
Excellent and disturbing article Jim. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving despite it all! I look forward to reading your take on the Washington DC National Guard shooting and how the Regime is likely to react.
So these so called elites are building themselves a virtual Tower of Babel?
Hi Jim, I am so grateful for your study, your thoughts, and your sharing of your thoughts and work. I have been obsessed with the background, dark corners, and the people moving in the shadows of this Trump governmental maze since his first run for office in 2015. You have been an incredible help in opening the labyrinth of passages and doors into its structure and the creatures lurking within.
For the past week, I have been obsessing over AI, and then boom: Trump's big “Genesis Mission” is announced. I had learned enough to know who the big players were going to be, and you have now confirmed that: the Thiel Team.
Today, I watched a speech given by Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin. She ultimately focused on AI, but didn't answer my nagging question: What about the people? The planet?
Here is a link to her talk, and my response, where I expose the concerns that I have not found a politician to address or answer. I look forward to your response (sorry for the length).
Link: MI Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivers speech on a new vision for America's National Security
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqnVNq8S5nw
My response:
A brilliant and clear overview of where and what we face as a nation!
Now, explain how we can improve the standard of living and grow the shrinking middle class while power-hungry, low-workforce AI facilities receive state tax breaks in massive land deals.
How do we create more well-paying, long-term jobs with solid healthcare and retirement benefits for the average person?
How do we educate the average American for the jobs of the future without a Department of Education?
In the meantime, how do we stop employers from replacing once-valued, mostly low-paid workers with AI specialists and robots?
Some ideas that our state representative should be working on:
— Improving the standard of living and growing the middle class while navigating the challenges posed by AI and concentrated wealth involves a multifaceted approach that incorporates policy changes, investment in human capital, and reform of the tax system.
— Addressing AI, Job Creation, and Standard of Living
To counteract the displacement of workers by AI and create quality jobs, several strategies can be pursued:
Invest in High-Growth Industries: Focus public and private investment in advanced industries such as clean energy technologies, infrastructure modernization, and medical innovation to generate new jobs.
— Boost Worker Bargaining Power: Strengthen labor standards and enforce workers' rights to unionization and collective bargaining. Stronger unions are associated with higher wages and better benefits for both unionized and non-unionized workers.
— Strategic Workforce Planning: Encourage companies to invest in reskilling and upskilling existing talent for roles that are complemented by AI, such as data analysis, programming, and technology management, rather than solely focusing on external hiring or full automation.
— Focus on "AI-Proof" Skills: Promote education and training in fields that require human qualities AI cannot easily replicate, such as social skills, emotional intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, and complex decision-making found in healthcare, education, and personal services.
— Reform Tax Incentives: Re-evaluate and reform state tax breaks and land deals for large, low-workforce AI facilities to ensure they provide a net benefit to the local economy, potentially by tying incentives to specific job creation goals or local investment requirements.
— Implementing Specific Policy Proposals:
Tax Reform:
Increase Taxes on the Wealthy: Proposals include levying a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, increasing the top marginal income tax rate, and closing loopholes that allow wealth gains and transfers to escape taxation (e.g., eliminating the "step-up in basis" on inherited assets).
Social Security Tax: Increasing the Social Security tax base to cover incomes up to $999 million would extend the Medicare Trust Fund's solvency and ensure a broader contribution from high earners.
Minimum Wage: Gradually increasing the federal minimum wage to a living wage across the country is a widely discussed policy to boost incomes for low- and middle-income families, which can also stimulate overall economic demand.
Healthcare for All: Implementing universal healthcare coverage can save middle-class consumers thousands annually on healthcare costs and limit the risk that illness will lead to financial ruin, improving overall financial stability and productivity.
Education and Training:
— Education Focus: Emphasize foundational skills like reading, writing, and math from an early age.
— Future Jobs Training: Develop education and training programs (via community colleges, vocational schools, and business partnerships) for technical, social services, and green jobs. This can be managed at state and local levels through existing educational institutions and workforce development boards, even without a federal Department of Education.
Addressing Political Influence
Reducing the influence of wealthy individuals and corporations ("self-serving Wall Street and Big-Tech billionaires") in government often involves campaign finance reform, lobbying restrictions, and increased transparency in political donations and policy-making processes. Many policy experts note that highly concentrated wealth naturally leads to concentrated political power, eroding the average person's voice in important debates. by adopting a plan like The Transparent Election Initiative: The Montana Plan.
PS: My perspective is not one of opposition to AI; I view it as a powerful tool and even used it as a collaborator in outlining this argument. Yet, the current trajectory of AI development, driven by a few dominant players, demands immediate attention. Robust and ethical regulations are crucial to align AI's expansion with the long-term well-being of the public and our planet.
The energy requirements of AI data centers alone are enough to guarantee the worst cast scenario in terms of global warming, since most of that energy will be from fossil fuels. The more I learn about this the more I'm against AI, period. Of course, it'll be developed to maximum capacity since that's what capitalism does.
Jim, you have become my fave science fiction-not-fiction and psychological thriller author! I bet the fuckers over at Project 2O25 are just downright giddy over this. Big Russ has to be involved somehow.
I'm going to curl up with a good murder mystery - I can always turn the page or even close the book.
I've been developing my luddite self for much of my 75 years. Every "advancement" I became aware of made me ask WHY? The current group of developers are especially scary to me because they seem to be united in purpose and arrogance and falsehood and their attempt to rule the world. So, is resistance finally futile?
Resistance has become a requirement. 😉
Yeah, the fox is guarding the henhouse, alright. "What could go wrong? What couldn't?" :)
It seems to me that at some point soon the people controlling the processes you describe will stop pretending they are playing the “Democracy” game. They’ll just declare “Game over,” surround themselves with a palace guard, and declare that we can now go back to work…for them…at whatever conditions they care to declare.
Ohh my Goodness 😱 your article this evening scared the hell out of me!!! What you've written is spot on, it's a road I don't want to travel down. Thank you, here's hoping you and your readers have a good Thanksgiving holiday and will reStack ASAP 🙏