Posted on 05/30/2026 5:35:23 AM PDT by FLT-bird
Americans Are About to Get a Lot Richer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCd9ctg1sO4
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Problem with small businesses is they get bought by big businesses.
We’re no where near any phase where hiring picks up. We’re still in the lay off phase. I work in software, we just had a blood bath, nearly half the team is gone. And what are all the features we’re looking to put into our product over the next 2 years? AI, to “reduce cost”, which of course in modern business means head count. Most of the industry right now is adding features to let our customer lay people off.
But all of that “more” is aiming for automated stuff. Heck there’s another article on here this morning that TX just approved phase 4 automated vehicles, that’s fancy words for no driver needed. So all that stuff being built in TX can be supplied by automated trucks.
All the way up until the companies decide they don’t like being publicly traded.
Of course its the goal but all the production and power plants and data centers, etc is going to need people. That is going to generate jobs.
They won’t need many people. Even pre-AI data centers, thousands of companies get rid of their IT to put their in a data center with a hundred or so employees. Data centers have been subtracting jobs for decades already, they aren’t going to suddenly reverse that. These data center WILL COST JOBS. Anybody saying otherwise is ignoring the facts of the last 2 decades AND everything these companies are saying. They KNOW they’re going to cost jobs, that’s how they’re SELLING THE PRODUCT. “Let our AI do the work, get rid of those expensive employees.”
Yeah you have a point. Power is the AI Achilles heel. Also I would say nursing is pretty bulletproof these days. So many aging folks
AI and whether or not it will really work and/or whether it will result in far fewer employees is a separate discussion.
No it isn’t. That’s the whole point of your article, saying these data centers will add jobs. Lying, and ignoring the FACT that what these data centers will be used for is to SUBTRACT jobs. And it WILL be a net loss. That is the entire goal of the AI industry, save costs by employing less people. That’s the WHOLE discussion. Anybody saying otherwise is pulling the wool over their own eyes.
OK you win. There will never ever be any more jobs in the US ever again. Its all doom and gloom. Perhaps we should just slit our wrists now and save time.
You have a good point. I gauge how well the economy is doing by how much decent stuff shows up on the “free” category of Craigslist.
And now you’ve completely run away from facts, gone to petulance. So clearly you can see the facts and logic don’t support you. Now the only question is are you grown up enough to handle that? Signs point to no.
AI generated: Here is a tongue-in-cheek, story-driven piece that mirrors modern arguments about AI by using the “buggy whip vs. automobile” transition:
***
:::writing
In the spring of 1908, the town hall of Hartford was unusually full. The air smelled faintly of leather, oil, and indignation. Mr. Horace P. Whitcomb—third-generation buggy whip manufacturer and proud defender of common sense—stood at the podium, gripping a finely crafted hickory-handled whip as though it were both exhibit A and moral compass.
“Gentlemen,” he began, pausing to let the word settle like a dividend check, “we are told that the future belongs to these… automobiles.”
A murmur of disapproval rippled through the crowd.
“Yes, these sputtering contraptions that frighten horses, terrify children, and require—if you can imagine—no whip whatsoever. No whip!” He raised his arm dramatically. “Are we to believe that an entire economy can survive without the guiding hand of leather and craftsmanship?”
From the back, someone shouted, “They say you just turn a crank!”
“Exactly!” Whitcomb thundered. “A crank! No horse, no stable, no farrier, no feed suppliers—and most troubling of all—no need for skilled whip artisans such as myself. What happens to our workers? Our families? Shall we all become… crank turners?”
A few heads nodded gravely.
“And mark my words,” he continued, pacing now, warming to his theme, “this automobile craze is nothing but a speculative bubble. I have it on good authority that these machines break down frequently, require specialized fuel, and cannot even navigate muddy roads without considerable fuss. Meanwhile, a horse—reliable, self-repairing, and environmentally integrated—requires only oats and modest encouragement.”
Applause broke out.
“Furthermore,” Whitcomb added, lowering his voice for effect, “if we eliminate the need for buggy whips, what comes next? Saddles? Horseshoes? Entire towns built on equine commerce will collapse. We are not merely discussing transportation—we are dismantling a way of life!”
A banker in the front row leaned forward. “But Mr. Whitcomb, some say these automobiles increase productivity—faster travel, expanded commerce…”
Whitcomb waved him off. “Temporary gains! Unsustainable! Who will maintain these machines? Who will regulate them? Who will ensure that every citizen has equal access to a crank? No, sir. This is reckless innovation masquerading as progress.”
He held up the whip once more, its braided leather catching the light. “This—this represents stability. Tradition. Proven utility. Not some untested mechanical fantasy.”
The crowd rose in a standing ovation.
Outside, as the meeting adjourned, a young man quietly climbed into a Model T, turned the crank, and drove off—arriving in New Haven before Mr. Whitcomb’s horse had finished its evening feed.
Within a decade, the Whitcomb Whip Company had pivoted—reluctantly—into manufacturing fan belts.
And the town of Hartford, though somewhat less aromatic, was doing just fine.
The AI fearmongers don’t seem to recall history.
What do you think you've been doing? You've been fiercely determined to push the doom and gloom narrative throughout. "Everything will be automated, there will be few jobs, in fact there will be a huge bloodbath even among people who are working now. DOOOOOOM!!!!"
So clearly you can see the facts and logic don’t support you.
No. Clearly I can see you don't have any facts or logic - just doom mongering.
Now the only question is are you grown up enough to handle that? Signs point to no.
Are you grown up enough to admit that all those trillions in investment in the US that companies have been making will result in an economic upswing and the generation of lots of jobs? You seem determined to deny that despite all evidence to the contrary.
I’m pushing FACTS. This isn’t like other big tech changes. There is no industry here that’s going to spawn jobs. It’s just computers. Computers have already made the jobs they’re going to make. And one of the first targets of AI tech is all the jobs computers have made. That’s just a fact.
No clearly you see you lack them. Because you’ve now gone 100% personal attack. You can’t pound the facts, you can’t pound the logic, so now you’re trying to discredit me. But I’m right, and you know it.
I’m grown up enough to know that those “trillions” of investment are going to COMPANIES, not people. Which is what I’ve been saying the whole time. COMPANIES are going to make a bunch of money. PEOPLE are not.
You don’t understand the fundamental differences between facts, opinions, and beliefs. It’s probably not your fault. It’s not taught in schools any more.
No, you're NOT.
This isn’t like other big tech changes. There is no industry here that’s going to spawn jobs.
That's a ridiculous claim.
It’s just computers. Computers have already made the jobs they’re going to make. And one of the first targets of AI tech is all the jobs computers have made. That’s just a fact.
Computers are going to build cars? Computers are going to build ships? Computers are going to run power plants? Computers are going to manufacture all the other things various production plants are being built to produce?
No clearly you see you lack them. Because you’ve now gone 100% personal attack. You can’t pound the facts, you can’t pound the logic, so now you’re trying to discredit me. But I’m right, and you know it.
No. I've just pointed out your doom mongering is ridiculous. That's not a personal attack - I'm addressing the ridiculous arguments you're making, not you.
I’m grown up enough to know that those “trillions” of investment are going to COMPANIES, not people. Which is what I’ve been saying the whole time. COMPANIES are going to make a bunch of money. PEOPLE are not.
Those companies are going to make things. They need to employ people to do that.
I do fully. Which you’ve just proven again. If you had the facts you’d use them. But you’re going personal. You only have to attack the person if you can’t refute what they said. So now we both know you know I’m right.
I am.
It’s the truth.
Yes computers ARE building cars RIGHT NOW. Manufacturing has been loosing jobs to automation for decades. Even China lost 40% of manufacturing jobs to automation back in the 2000s. And that was all PRE AI. And yes the computers are building ships, and running power plants, and everything else you can name. That’s OLD NEWS from OLD TECH.
You haven’t pointed anything out. You’re just attacking me. You have not attempted to present any facts.
No those companies DON’T need to employ people for that.
“make companies a bunch of money, but the people ain’t “
Comments like this appear frequently.
Like most people, I was raised to make money with my own effort. I was not raised to make money off owning a company in which I was not working to earn that money.
Future income and wealth be become even more unbalanced than now between those with one type of education vs those with a different type of education.
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