AI 'Have-Lots' Thrive as Mainstream Media 'Discovers' Inequality
Axios highlights the rise of the 'Have-Lots,' a class rocketing to wealth via AI's 'private deals, massive investment power, governmental connections.' The outlet frames this as a new, 'structural shift.' One might wonder how many historical shifts have been 'structural' while simultaneously being products of deliberate policy choices, tax incentives, and unchecked lobbying that 'normal' investors
don't touch. (Because who needs that kind of access when you have a 401K whose value barely budges?) While lamenting that the bottom 50% only own 1% of US stocks, Axios fails to connect the dots to decades of austerity, deregulation, and a political system where lawmakers, often bankrolled by corporate interests, consistently legislate in favor of capital over labor. The idea that this is merely
'human nature' or a 'bubble' ignores the legislative framework that actively facilitates this concentration of wealth, making it less an unforeseen outcome and more a feature of the system.