October '24

Late-stage capitalism, the AI bubble, and being present

Do You See Stars, Fascist Superman? by Raymond Pettibon

Some Poems

A few of my favorites.

• When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer by Walt Whitman [LINK]

• My mother was a braid of black smoke by Charles Simic [LINK]

• Working Outside at Night by Denis Johnson [LINK]

• High Windows by Philip Larkin [LINK]

• happy by Lana Del Rey [LINK]

Late Stage Capitalism

From the early 18th century until the tail end of the Civil War, the capitalistic notions of Adam Smith ruled the burgeoning global economy. Fueled by the Industrial Revolution, the growth of domestic markets sparked a highly competitive (and virtually free) market. Likely the purest and most natural born free market phenomenon the world has ever known.

But from the 1870s upwards of 1940 the global economy shifted into monopolistic capitalism. The consolidation of international markets and exploitation of colonial territories resulting in colossal industrial monopolies at the expense of fewer and fewer competitors.

Then the world stage gets interrupted by WWII and the era known as “late stage capitalism” takes root. Multinational corporations. Big banks. Big tech. Mass consumption. Fewer companies exercising inordinate power upon the global economy. Less options provoking an undue sense of assimilation.

And from a cultural perspective, this explains much of what we see today. We’ve moved away the modernistic society which believed in progress for the sake of progress. Away from the era of technological grandeur and popular consensus and instead embraced postmodernist ideals; those which remain skeptical about the meaning of “progress”. In the wake of technological and societal change, all the certainties of life have broken down. As a result, our living world gets destabilized. Making anything questionable, malleable, transient, and impermanent. Ultimately culminating in existentialism, the breaking down of the nuclear family, fluidity of gender and sexual norms, etc etc.

We’re living in the aftermath of a golden age. The long tail to an Adam Smith theocracy. A brave new world.

The AI Bubble

Jobs in the tech world are becoming evermore scarce, and while some attribute this to “over-hiring during COVID”, I think there’s more to it.

For starters, two things can be true at once: 1) tech companies over-hired during COVID and 2) tech companies (as well as mom and pop Fortune 500s) are eyeing the burgeoning revolution of artificial intelligence and are hesitant to hire when its unclear what this means.

I truly believe that there’s a very minute portion of the population who understand how today’s AI technology works. And to take it one step further — as someone who works in the industry and did a postgrad on this very subject — I can confirm that I don’t even fully understand it.

This leaves a situation where perhaps 1 in 10 humans could explain how ChatGPT works in layman’s terms, and 1 in 100 who could allude to the architecture and mathematics behind such a tech. And lets say 1 in 1000 who could describe the technical stack top to bottom and possesses a deep understanding.

So…we have 99.9% of people who know close to nothing about the intricacies of modern day artificial intelligence (things like generative AI and stable diffusion) and you’re telling me that the CEO’s at places like Walmart and Home Depot are no longer hiring engineers because “AI will replace them”??

That’s sheer ignorance. To the highest degree.

This honestly feels like the dot com bubble. A lot of speculation and no true understanding. So what’s the result? Do nothing and wait for the bubble to burst?

Fantastic reasoning Mr. Fox.

Aside

you've been on my mind girl

Being Present

I’ve been chewing on this subject for months. Both actively and passively. And it presents itself in a variety of ways. For example, I remember hearing something along the lines of “we were happier as kids because we were far more ‘present’”. That effectively, growing older and having more responsibility leads to unparalleled stress and anxiety and a day-to-day where we spend so much time stuck in our heads worrying about things. Many of which never come to fruition.

This brings me back to a few weeks ago, when I had a couple buddies over to show them my new house in Highland Park. We grabbed dinner at the neighborhood pizza joint and came back to my place to smoke cigars and sip aged rye. And at one point, we discussed the nature of “being more present”. Of slowing down and stopping to watch the leaves shake in the wind. When was the last time you glanced up at the sky? Took a couple deep breaths just for the hell of it?

As someone who’s probably in the 99th percentile of ‘try hard’ when it comes to life ambition, taking a step back and framing my stress as a matter of perspective has really made me so much happier.

Take time as you need it. There’s nothing a man can’t do tomorrow.

Some Literature

Because we would not wear any clothes because it was so hot and the window open and the swallows flying over the roofs of the houses and when it was dark afterward and you went to the window very small bats hunting over the houses and close down over the trees and we would drink the capri and the door locked and it hot and only a sheet and the whole night and we would both love each other all night in the hot night in Milan. That was how it ought to be. 

- Ernest Hemingway (A Farewell to Arms)

Thanks for reading my Substack. Feel free to:

Or subscribe: