Month: May 2026

The honest truth is that nobody really knows very much about how AI will change the world. It could lead to widespread job growth or destruction. It could enable criminals and fraudsters or keep them under better control. It could lead to a cure for cancer and a world of more fulfilling labor or a world in which a handful of overmighty capitalists dictate terms to a government that is no longer democratic. Only time will tell.

The one thing for sure, however, is that it will be a boon for the owners of capital. It will lead to much larger profits for businesses that use it wisely. The American tax system, however, is primarily based on the taxation of labor, not capital. Is that sustainable? Will we see an America with a far more comprehensive welfare state financed by AI profits, or will a few capitalists use their growing economic and political power to shred the safety net and force us all to be their retainers?

If recent history is any guide, don’t get your hopes up.

I grew up during the Cold War. I was a small child during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember the furor over “The Day After.” The possibility of nuclear war, in short, was always with us during my lifetime. It seemed pretty remote, however. The likely results were so appalling that it was essentially unthinkable.

About a week ago, I had a dream in which Trump led us without proper preparation into a nuclear war with Russia and China. That never happened to me until now.

It serves as a reminder of the real stakes in American politics. Electing the man with the golden gut threatens us with extinction, not just an American variant of fascism. Keeping him under constraint consequently has to be our highest national priority.