cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1261690/a-majority-of-americans-now-support-seizing-wealth-from-ai-industry
While 89% back mandatory safety disclosures, nearly 70% support requiring AI firms to transfer 50% of their stock to a public fund
Like that money is actually going to end up in the pockets of average Americans.
When Big Oil came to fuck Alaska they did this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund it ain’t much, but it’s better than 0.
That was done by the State of Alaska, not the Federal government.
I imagine that even if something like this was established, I imagine that a huge chunk of each dollar would disappear into the bureaucracy.
Also, given the financial issues, it may not be the cash cow everyone thinks.
As it does in Alaska, though some views of the situation say that that’s reducing taxes while simultaneously providing valuable services…
Personally, I don’t mind Bernie’s plan: annex 51% of the company stock by imminent domain or whatever you want to call it, if it implodes there’s no real loss, but if it’s profitable then the business wizards of our government can tap the excess wealth to return to the people who provided the training for the models the buisness is based on. UBI is the politically flashy way to return the profits, but reducing taxes can have a similar effect for taxpayers - but my question is: which taxpayers need the breaks?
One aspect of capitalism that many people don’t get is that capital is only capital and not just money, because you can force people to work for you, that’s why UBI or paying people based on stock values will never be enough to get your average person out of wage slavery.
Care to elaborate on that one?
It’s fundamental to capitalism
Capital is “Wealth, money, or assets used to start a business, produce goods, or invest for future growth”
Even if you don’t fully agree with the labor theory of value if you accept that it’s partially accurate, then it’s fundamental to capitalism to have a captive workforce that have to work to survive, because that’s how you turn your money into more money: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value
That’s why the development of modern capitalism was contingent on enclosing the commons and taking away people’s ability to survive without working in factories for capitalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure#Parliamentary_inclosure_acts
And also why the myth of the tragedy of the commons was invented by a literal lord: https://inthesetimes.com/article/commons-practices-capitalism-enclosure-peasants-indigenous-collective-ownership
If you really want to get into the details Marx lays it out pretty well in Capital vol.1 (even if it’s not written in a particularly concise way and quite Eurocentric, I think this aspect is pretty well sourced and does explain how capitalism came to be in Europe pretty well).
So under a capitalist system, where capitalists & the state need your labor in order to enrich themselves, no alternative to labor is ever going to remove the requirement for people to work in order to access what they need to survive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalist_mode_of_production#Distinguishing_characteristics