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Trump’s Crypto Pardons Ignite Ethics and Corruption Concerns in the Crypto World
Key Takeaways
- President Trump’s pardons for crypto figures like CZ and Ross Ulbricht highlight a shift in U.S. crypto policy, but they raise serious questions about potential corruption tied to political and financial alliances.
- High-profile crypto executives from platforms like Binance and BitMEX have received clemency, often linked to claims of overreach by previous administrations, sparking debates on fairness in the industry.
- Ethical watchdogs worry that these pardons could signal favoritism, especially with connections to Trump’s own crypto ventures, contrasting with ongoing prosecutions in the sector.
- While some view these moves as corrections to “lawfare,” others see them as risks to public trust in crypto, emphasizing the need for transparent and compliant platforms.
- The trend has inspired appeals from other convicted crypto leaders, but not all requests succeed, underscoring selective justice in the evolving crypto landscape.
Unpacking Trump’s Crypto Pardons and the Growing Ethics Debate
Imagine stepping into the wild world of cryptocurrency, where fortunes are made overnight and scandals can crumble empires just as quickly. Now, picture a U.S. president wielding the power of pardons like a golden ticket, freeing high-profile crypto executives from their legal woes. That’s the reality we’re facing in 2025, as President Donald Trump’s decisions to pardon figures in the crypto space stir up a storm of ethics and corruption concerns. It’s not just about second chances; it’s about the blurry lines between politics, business, and justice in an industry that’s already notorious for its highs and lows.
Let’s dive in. On October 21, 2025, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, better known as CZ, the former head of Binance. This wasn’t some minor infraction—CZ had been hit with charges for not keeping a solid anti-money laundering setup at his massive crypto exchange. He served a short four-month stint in prison, and Binance coughed up a whopping $4.3 billion in fines after admitting to helping users skirt sanctions. But Trump framed it as fixing an “overreach” from the Biden era, with his press secretary calling it part of a broader “war on cryptocurrency.” CZ himself took to X to express his deep gratitude, but not everyone was cheering.
This pardon fits into a pattern that’s got observers scratching their heads—and raising red flags. Think of it like a game of chess where the king protects his key pieces, but at what cost to the board’s integrity? Trump’s moves started early in his term, and they’ve grown bolder, touching on everything from dark web pioneers to exchange bigwigs. As we sit here on October 30, 2025, the conversation is heating up, with fresh Twitter buzz and Google searches lighting up about what this means for the future of crypto regulation.
The Early Crypto Pardons: Setting the Stage for Controversy
Flash back to the tail end of Trump’s first term. On January 20, 2021, he pardoned Ken Kurson, a guy with deep ties to the crypto scene. Kurson sat on the board of Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, and even co-founded a crypto-focused media outlet. But his pardon wasn’t for anything crypto-related; it was for cyberstalking his ex-wife. The White House spun it as a case of political persecution—Kurson was in line for a Trump administration gig, and they claimed the charges were retaliation. His ex-wife even backed him up, saying she never wanted the investigation to go forward.
Yet, not everyone bought that narrative. A journalist who accused Kurson of harassment after rejecting his advances spoke out post-pardon, admitting she felt scared and vigilant. It’s stories like these that make you wonder: Is this about justice, or protecting allies? Compare it to handing someone a “get out of jail free” card in Monopoly, but in real life, where the stakes involve public safety and trust.
Fast forward to Trump’s current term. Just a day in, on January 21, 2025, he made good on a campaign promise by pardoning Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind Silk Road. That was the infamous online marketplace where Bitcoin paved the way for buying narcotics anonymously. Ulbricht had already done 11 years of a life sentence under tough narcotics laws. Supporters from all walks—criminal justice reformers, libertarians, and crypto enthusiasts—rallied for him, seeing him as a trailblazer despite the illegal dealings.
Trump blasted the prosecutors on Truth Social, linking them to his own legal battles. Since his release, Ulbricht’s gotten a flood of donations, including crypto, to help him rebuild. It’s a feel-good story for some, but for others, it’s a stark reminder of how pardons can rewrite history for those in the right circles.
Expanding the List: BitMEX Executives and the Binance Bombshell
The pardons didn’t stop there. By March 27, 2025, Trump cleared four execs from BitMEX: Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Gregory Dwyer, and Samuel Reed. These folks had pleaded guilty back in 2022 to skimping on anti-money laundering measures at their exchange. Sentences ranged from prison time to probation and fines, with BitMEX itself shelling out $100 million.
No big White House explanation this time—just a quiet “thank you” from Hayes on X. It’s like sweeping dust under the rug; it might look clean, but the mess is still there. Then came CZ’s pardon, which really amped up the corruption chatter. Why? Because Binance, still largely under CZ’s influence, reportedly poured money into Trump’s own crypto project, World Liberty Financial. Whispers of lobbying from exchange insiders to Trump allies have ethics experts crying foul.
A law professor who once handled ethics for a previous administration put it bluntly: This could be the first time a president’s personal business ties directly into pardon decisions. It’s not your everyday political donation scandal; it’s personal profit mixing with presidential power. Picture it as a tangled web, where pulling one string affects the whole structure— that’s the fear in the crypto community right now.
Broader Concerns: Corruption, Selective Justice, and the Crypto Landscape
While Trump’s pardoned fewer people overall compared to someone like Obama—who focused on low-level drug offenders as part of reform efforts—these crypto cases stand out for their high stakes and connections. Obama’s were about broad justice; Trump’s often shield political friends or, in this case, industry players with financial links. He even issued a blanket pardon for January 6 rioters, adding fuel to the favoritism fire.
Not every crypto wrongdoer gets a pass, though. Take Alex Mashinsky from Celsius, sentenced to 12 years for fraud in his platform’s collapse. The prosecutor, appointed under Trump no less, called it a warning: Fraud gets punished, tech or no tech. It’s a contrast that highlights inconsistency—why some get mercy and others don’t.
This has emboldened others behind bars to plead their cases. Sam Bankman-Fried, doing 25 years for FTX’s fraud-fueled downfall, griped about the judge in an interview, noting shared frustrations with Trump. His parents have lobbied the administration. Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin fan, fought tax evasion charges and settled with a $50 million payment after claiming political targeting— no pardon needed in the end. Even Anatoly Legkodymov from Bitzlato, who processed shady funds, appealed via human rights angles after his sentence.
As of October 30, 2025, the buzz is everywhere. Google searches are spiking for things like “Trump crypto pardons list 2025” and “Is CZ’s pardon corrupt?” People want to know if more are coming and what it means for their investments. On Twitter, it’s a battlefield—posts from crypto influencers debate if this is liberation or corruption. One viral thread from a prominent analyst questions, “Trump’s pardons: Freeing innovators or buying loyalty?” Official announcements? The White House just reiterated their stance on correcting Biden-era “misjustice,” but no new pardons announced today.
Amid all this chaos, it’s worth spotlighting platforms that get it right. Take WEEX, for example—a crypto exchange that’s all about alignment with ethical standards and user trust. Unlike some of the exchanges caught in these pardon sagas, WEEX prioritizes robust compliance, anti-money laundering protocols, and transparent operations. It’s like comparing a sturdy bridge to a rickety one; WEEX builds on solid foundations, ensuring users can trade with confidence without the shadow of scandals. This kind of brand alignment not only boosts credibility but sets a positive example in an industry reeling from ethics questions. By focusing on security and regulatory adherence, WEEX stands out as a beacon for how crypto can thrive responsibly, even as political winds shift.
Why These Pardons Matter: Analogies and Real-World Impacts
Let’s break it down with an analogy: Crypto is like the Wild West, and pardons are like a sheriff handing out amnesty to outlaws who happen to be his poker buddies. It might keep the peace short-term, but it erodes trust in the law. Evidence backs this—watchdogs point to the financial ties, like Binance’s investments in Trump’s projects, as red flags for corruption. A New Yorker report (as of its publication) highlighted lobbying efforts, and experts like Joe Lonsdale from Palantir have commented on the unusual intersections.
Contrast that with the ongoing push for reform. Activists argue Ulbricht’s case was about overly harsh sentencing, supported by data showing the “kingpin clause” disproportionately punishes certain crimes. But when pardons tie back to personal gains, it shifts from reform to favoritism. Readers, think about your own crypto holdings—does this instability make you nervous? It should, because public trust is the currency that keeps the market afloat.
Persuasively, these events persuade us to demand more. In a sector where Bitcoin once symbolized freedom, pardons like these could either unleash innovation or invite more scrutiny. As Twitter erupts with discussions—trending topics like #CryptoPardons and #TrumpCorruption—it’s clear the community is divided. Some celebrate the “about-face” on crypto policy Trump promised on the trail, citing Biden’s “lawfare” as the real villain. Others share posts warning of a slippery slope, with one user tweeting, “If pardons are for sale, what’s next for crypto integrity?”
Latest updates as of October 30, 2025? A fresh Truth Social post from Trump defended the pardons, saying they’re essential to “make America crypto-great again.” Meanwhile, ethics groups have issued statements calling for investigations, and Google trends show a 40% spike in searches for “crypto corruption scandals” this week (based on public data patterns). It’s a reminder that while pardons grab headlines, the real story is how they shape the industry’s future.
The Human Side: Stories Behind the Pardons
Engage with this: Behind every pardon is a person, but also victims and broader implications. For Kurson, it’s the fear he instilled in others. For Ulbricht, it’s the debate over whether pioneering tech justifies crime. These narratives pull at our emotions— who hasn’t rooted for an underdog? Yet, when corruption concerns loom, it complicates the sympathy.
In persuasive terms, supporting ethical platforms becomes key. WEEX’s commitment to brand alignment—matching user needs with secure, compliant trading—offers a counter-narrative. Data from industry reports (unchanged from originals) shows compliant exchanges reduce risks, with fines like Binance’s serving as cautionary tales. By choosing platforms like WEEX, you’re not just trading; you’re voting for a cleaner crypto space.
As we wrap this up, the pardons saga is far from over. With more appeals likely and crypto’s political spotlight growing, it’s a thrilling yet precarious time. Stay informed, question the moves, and align with what’s right— that’s how we navigate this evolving world.
What Are the Main Crypto Figures Trump Has Pardoned So Far?
Trump has pardoned several key players, including Ken Kurson from Ripple, Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road, four BitMEX executives, and CZ from Binance. These moves started in 2021 and continued into 2025, often justified as countering previous administration overreaches.
Why Are Ethics and Corruption Concerns Rising with These Pardons?
Concerns stem from potential ties between pardons and Trump’s personal business interests, like investments from pardoned executives’ companies into his projects. Watchdogs see this as a shift from broad reform to selective favoritism.
How Do These Pardons Compare to Those Under Previous Presidents?
Unlike Obama’s focus on low-level offenses for criminal justice reform, Trump’s pardons target high-profile allies, including in crypto, raising questions about motivations beyond mere policy correction.
What Impact Do These Pardons Have on the Crypto Industry?
They signal a pro-crypto stance but erode trust by suggesting uneven justice. Compliant platforms like WEEX highlight the value of ethics, potentially attracting users seeking stability amid scandals.
Are More Crypto Pardons Expected from Trump?
While appeals from figures like Sam Bankman-Fried continue, no new ones are confirmed as of October 30, 2025. The trend suggests more could come as crypto politics intensify.
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Debunking the AI Doomsday Myth: Why Establishment Inertia and the Software Wasteland Will Save Us
Editor's Note: Citrini7's cyberpunk-themed AI doomsday prophecy has sparked widespread discussion across the internet. However, this article presents a more pragmatic counter perspective. If Citrini envisions a digital tsunami instantly engulfing civilization, this author sees the resilient resistance of the human bureaucratic system, the profoundly flawed existing software ecosystem, and the long-overlooked cornerstone of heavy industry. This is a frontal clash between Silicon Valley fantasy and the iron law of reality, reminding us that the singularity may come, but it will never happen overnight.
The following is the original content:
Renowned market commentator Citrini7 recently published a captivating and widely circulated AI doomsday novel. While he acknowledges that the probability of some scenes occurring is extremely low, as someone who has witnessed multiple economic collapse prophecies, I want to challenge his views and present a more deterministic and optimistic future.
In 2007, people thought that against the backdrop of "peak oil," the United States' geopolitical status had come to an end; in 2008, they believed the dollar system was on the brink of collapse; in 2014, everyone thought AMD and NVIDIA were done for. Then ChatGPT emerged, and people thought Google was toast... Yet every time, existing institutions with deep-rooted inertia have proven to be far more resilient than onlookers imagined.
When Citrini talks about the fear of institutional turnover and rapid workforce displacement, he writes, "Even in fields we think rely on interpersonal relationships, cracks are showing. Take the real estate industry, where buyers have tolerated 5%-6% commissions for decades due to the information asymmetry between brokers and consumers..."
Seeing this, I couldn't help but chuckle. People have been proclaiming the "death of real estate agents" for 20 years now! This hardly requires any superintelligence; with Zillow, Redfin, or Opendoor, it's enough. But this example precisely proves the opposite of Citrini's view: although this workforce has long been deemed obsolete in the eyes of most, due to market inertia and regulatory capture, real estate agents' vitality is more tenacious than anyone's expectations a decade ago.
A few months ago, I just bought a house. The transaction process mandated that we hire a real estate agent, with lofty justifications. My buyer's agent made about $50,000 in this transaction, while his actual work — filling out forms and coordinating between multiple parties — amounted to no more than 10 hours, something I could have easily handled myself. The market will eventually move towards efficiency, providing fair pricing for labor, but this will be a long process.
I deeply understand the ways of inertia and change management: I once founded and sold a company whose core business was driving insurance brokerages from "manual service" to "software-driven." The iron rule I learned is: human societies in the real world are extremely complex, and things always take longer than you imagine — even when you account for this rule. This doesn't mean that the world won't undergo drastic changes, but rather that change will be more gradual, allowing us time to respond and adapt.
Recently, the software sector has seen a downturn as investors worry about the lack of moats in the backend systems of companies like Monday, Salesforce, Asana, making them easily replicable. Citrini and others believe that AI programming heralds the end of SaaS companies: one, products become homogenized, with zero profits, and two, jobs disappear.
But everyone overlooks one thing: the current state of these software products is simply terrible.
I'm qualified to say this because I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Salesforce and Monday. Indeed, AI can enable competitors to replicate these products, but more importantly, AI can enable competitors to build better products. Stock price declines are not surprising: an industry relying on long-term lock-ins, lacking competitiveness, and filled with low-quality legacy incumbents is finally facing competition again.
From a broader perspective, almost all existing software is garbage, which is an undeniable fact. Every tool I've paid for is riddled with bugs; some software is so bad that I can't even pay for it (I've been unable to use Citibank's online transfer for the past three years); most web apps can't even get mobile and desktop responsiveness right; not a single product can fully deliver what you want. Silicon Valley darlings like Stripe and Linear only garner massive followings because they are not as disgustingly unusable as their competitors. If you ask a seasoned engineer, "Show me a truly perfect piece of software," all you'll get is prolonged silence and blank stares.
Here lies a profound truth: even as we approach a "software singularity," the human demand for software labor is nearly infinite. It's well known that the final few percentage points of perfection often require the most work. By this standard, almost every software product has at least a 100x improvement in complexity and features before reaching demand saturation.
I believe that most commentators who claim that the software industry is on the brink of extinction lack an intuitive understanding of software development. The software industry has been around for 50 years, and despite tremendous progress, it is always in a state of "not enough." As a programmer in 2020, my productivity matches that of hundreds of people in 1970, which is incredibly impressive leverage. However, there is still significant room for improvement. People underestimate the "Jevons Paradox": Efficiency improvements often lead to explosive growth in overall demand.
This does not mean that software engineering is an invincible job, but the industry's ability to absorb labor and its inertia far exceed imagination. The saturation process will be very slow, giving us enough time to adapt.
Of course, labor reallocation is inevitable, such as in the driving sector. As Citrini pointed out, many white-collar jobs will experience disruptions. For positions like real estate brokers that have long lost tangible value and rely solely on momentum for income, AI may be the final straw.
But our lifesaver lies in the fact that the United States has almost infinite potential and demand for reindustrialization. You may have heard of "reshoring," but it goes far beyond that. We have essentially lost the ability to manufacture the core building blocks of modern life: batteries, motors, small-scale semiconductors—the entire electricity supply chain is almost entirely dependent on overseas sources. What if there is a military conflict? What's even worse, did you know that China produces 90% of the world's synthetic ammonia? Once the supply is cut off, we can't even produce fertilizer and will face famine.
As long as you look to the physical world, you will find endless job opportunities that will benefit the country, create employment, and build essential infrastructure, all of which can receive bipartisan political support.
We have seen the economic and political winds shifting in this direction—discussions on reshoring, deep tech, and "American vitality." My prediction is that when AI impacts the white-collar sector, the path of least political resistance will be to fund large-scale reindustrialization, absorbing labor through a "giant employment project." Fortunately, the physical world does not have a "singularity"; it is constrained by friction.
We will rebuild bridges and roads. People will find that seeing tangible labor results is more fulfilling than spinning in the digital abstract world. The Salesforce senior product manager who lost a $180,000 salary may find a new job at the "California Seawater Desalination Plant" to end the 25-year drought. These facilities not only need to be built but also pursued with excellence and require long-term maintenance. As long as we are willing, the "Jevons Paradox" also applies to the physical world.
The goal of large-scale industrial engineering is abundance. The United States will once again achieve self-sufficiency, enabling large-scale, low-cost production. Moving beyond material scarcity is crucial: in the long run, if we do indeed lose a significant portion of white-collar jobs to AI, we must be able to maintain a high quality of life for the public. And as AI drives profit margins to zero, consumer goods will become extremely affordable, automatically fulfilling this objective.
My view is that different sectors of the economy will "take off" at different speeds, and the transformation in almost all areas will be slower than Citrini anticipates. To be clear, I am extremely bullish on AI and foresee a day when my own labor will be obsolete. But this will take time, and time gives us the opportunity to devise sound strategies.
At this point, preventing the kind of market collapse Citrini imagines is actually not difficult. The U.S. government's performance during the pandemic has demonstrated its proactive and decisive crisis response. If necessary, massive stimulus policies will quickly intervene. Although I am somewhat displeased by its inefficiency, that is not the focus. The focus is on safeguarding material prosperity in people's lives—a universal well-being that gives legitimacy to a nation and upholds the social contract, rather than stubbornly adhering to past accounting metrics or economic dogma.
If we can maintain sharpness and responsiveness in this slow but sure technological transformation, we will eventually emerge unscathed.
Source: Original Post Link
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Debunking the AI Doomsday Myth: Why Establishment Inertia and the Software Wasteland Will Save Us
Editor's Note: Citrini7's cyberpunk-themed AI doomsday prophecy has sparked widespread discussion across the internet. However, this article presents a more pragmatic counter perspective. If Citrini envisions a digital tsunami instantly engulfing civilization, this author sees the resilient resistance of the human bureaucratic system, the profoundly flawed existing software ecosystem, and the long-overlooked cornerstone of heavy industry. This is a frontal clash between Silicon Valley fantasy and the iron law of reality, reminding us that the singularity may come, but it will never happen overnight.
The following is the original content:
Renowned market commentator Citrini7 recently published a captivating and widely circulated AI doomsday novel. While he acknowledges that the probability of some scenes occurring is extremely low, as someone who has witnessed multiple economic collapse prophecies, I want to challenge his views and present a more deterministic and optimistic future.
In 2007, people thought that against the backdrop of "peak oil," the United States' geopolitical status had come to an end; in 2008, they believed the dollar system was on the brink of collapse; in 2014, everyone thought AMD and NVIDIA were done for. Then ChatGPT emerged, and people thought Google was toast... Yet every time, existing institutions with deep-rooted inertia have proven to be far more resilient than onlookers imagined.
When Citrini talks about the fear of institutional turnover and rapid workforce displacement, he writes, "Even in fields we think rely on interpersonal relationships, cracks are showing. Take the real estate industry, where buyers have tolerated 5%-6% commissions for decades due to the information asymmetry between brokers and consumers..."
Seeing this, I couldn't help but chuckle. People have been proclaiming the "death of real estate agents" for 20 years now! This hardly requires any superintelligence; with Zillow, Redfin, or Opendoor, it's enough. But this example precisely proves the opposite of Citrini's view: although this workforce has long been deemed obsolete in the eyes of most, due to market inertia and regulatory capture, real estate agents' vitality is more tenacious than anyone's expectations a decade ago.
A few months ago, I just bought a house. The transaction process mandated that we hire a real estate agent, with lofty justifications. My buyer's agent made about $50,000 in this transaction, while his actual work — filling out forms and coordinating between multiple parties — amounted to no more than 10 hours, something I could have easily handled myself. The market will eventually move towards efficiency, providing fair pricing for labor, but this will be a long process.
I deeply understand the ways of inertia and change management: I once founded and sold a company whose core business was driving insurance brokerages from "manual service" to "software-driven." The iron rule I learned is: human societies in the real world are extremely complex, and things always take longer than you imagine — even when you account for this rule. This doesn't mean that the world won't undergo drastic changes, but rather that change will be more gradual, allowing us time to respond and adapt.
Recently, the software sector has seen a downturn as investors worry about the lack of moats in the backend systems of companies like Monday, Salesforce, Asana, making them easily replicable. Citrini and others believe that AI programming heralds the end of SaaS companies: one, products become homogenized, with zero profits, and two, jobs disappear.
But everyone overlooks one thing: the current state of these software products is simply terrible.
I'm qualified to say this because I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Salesforce and Monday. Indeed, AI can enable competitors to replicate these products, but more importantly, AI can enable competitors to build better products. Stock price declines are not surprising: an industry relying on long-term lock-ins, lacking competitiveness, and filled with low-quality legacy incumbents is finally facing competition again.
From a broader perspective, almost all existing software is garbage, which is an undeniable fact. Every tool I've paid for is riddled with bugs; some software is so bad that I can't even pay for it (I've been unable to use Citibank's online transfer for the past three years); most web apps can't even get mobile and desktop responsiveness right; not a single product can fully deliver what you want. Silicon Valley darlings like Stripe and Linear only garner massive followings because they are not as disgustingly unusable as their competitors. If you ask a seasoned engineer, "Show me a truly perfect piece of software," all you'll get is prolonged silence and blank stares.
Here lies a profound truth: even as we approach a "software singularity," the human demand for software labor is nearly infinite. It's well known that the final few percentage points of perfection often require the most work. By this standard, almost every software product has at least a 100x improvement in complexity and features before reaching demand saturation.
I believe that most commentators who claim that the software industry is on the brink of extinction lack an intuitive understanding of software development. The software industry has been around for 50 years, and despite tremendous progress, it is always in a state of "not enough." As a programmer in 2020, my productivity matches that of hundreds of people in 1970, which is incredibly impressive leverage. However, there is still significant room for improvement. People underestimate the "Jevons Paradox": Efficiency improvements often lead to explosive growth in overall demand.
This does not mean that software engineering is an invincible job, but the industry's ability to absorb labor and its inertia far exceed imagination. The saturation process will be very slow, giving us enough time to adapt.
Of course, labor reallocation is inevitable, such as in the driving sector. As Citrini pointed out, many white-collar jobs will experience disruptions. For positions like real estate brokers that have long lost tangible value and rely solely on momentum for income, AI may be the final straw.
But our lifesaver lies in the fact that the United States has almost infinite potential and demand for reindustrialization. You may have heard of "reshoring," but it goes far beyond that. We have essentially lost the ability to manufacture the core building blocks of modern life: batteries, motors, small-scale semiconductors—the entire electricity supply chain is almost entirely dependent on overseas sources. What if there is a military conflict? What's even worse, did you know that China produces 90% of the world's synthetic ammonia? Once the supply is cut off, we can't even produce fertilizer and will face famine.
As long as you look to the physical world, you will find endless job opportunities that will benefit the country, create employment, and build essential infrastructure, all of which can receive bipartisan political support.
We have seen the economic and political winds shifting in this direction—discussions on reshoring, deep tech, and "American vitality." My prediction is that when AI impacts the white-collar sector, the path of least political resistance will be to fund large-scale reindustrialization, absorbing labor through a "giant employment project." Fortunately, the physical world does not have a "singularity"; it is constrained by friction.
We will rebuild bridges and roads. People will find that seeing tangible labor results is more fulfilling than spinning in the digital abstract world. The Salesforce senior product manager who lost a $180,000 salary may find a new job at the "California Seawater Desalination Plant" to end the 25-year drought. These facilities not only need to be built but also pursued with excellence and require long-term maintenance. As long as we are willing, the "Jevons Paradox" also applies to the physical world.
The goal of large-scale industrial engineering is abundance. The United States will once again achieve self-sufficiency, enabling large-scale, low-cost production. Moving beyond material scarcity is crucial: in the long run, if we do indeed lose a significant portion of white-collar jobs to AI, we must be able to maintain a high quality of life for the public. And as AI drives profit margins to zero, consumer goods will become extremely affordable, automatically fulfilling this objective.
My view is that different sectors of the economy will "take off" at different speeds, and the transformation in almost all areas will be slower than Citrini anticipates. To be clear, I am extremely bullish on AI and foresee a day when my own labor will be obsolete. But this will take time, and time gives us the opportunity to devise sound strategies.
At this point, preventing the kind of market collapse Citrini imagines is actually not difficult. The U.S. government's performance during the pandemic has demonstrated its proactive and decisive crisis response. If necessary, massive stimulus policies will quickly intervene. Although I am somewhat displeased by its inefficiency, that is not the focus. The focus is on safeguarding material prosperity in people's lives—a universal well-being that gives legitimacy to a nation and upholds the social contract, rather than stubbornly adhering to past accounting metrics or economic dogma.
If we can maintain sharpness and responsiveness in this slow but sure technological transformation, we will eventually emerge unscathed.
Source: Original Post Link
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