The economy is down, and the fad is blame AI so that is what everyone is doing. The last downturn there was a different fad that people blamed it on - but the real root cause was always the economy and not the fad.

> Populism is effective because the proverbial rising tide is not lifting all boats

This is naive and shows lack of understanding of second order effects. Technology has been so far one of the only things to lift all boats. The last 100 years almost eliminated extreme poverty, hunger and improved material life for everyone. How? Technology - agricultural, industrial.

Of course AI is going to be a rising tide but there will be a blip where people can lose jobs.

Wealth inequality is just a proxy issue or jealousy. Industrial revolution also increased inequality (just in narrow terms).

This is a bit reductionist.

AI is also:

- Boosting existing small businesses and enabling the creation of new small businesses by making previously expensive resources like market research, accounting/legal advice, etc. available for $20/month.

- Helping the world progress towards cheaper healthcare: https://www.vox.com/health/487425/open-ai-chatgpt-diagnosis-...

- Allowing lower income communities to access legal advice that would previously have been prohibitively expensive: https://www.probonoinst.org/2026/02/06/ai-and-technology-hel...

If Anthropic can allow millions of people from all around the world to access these benefits, why shouldn't it be worth a trillion dollars?

Wealth in the modern world is not a zero sum game. Wealth is created, not allocated. The fact that Anthropic is worth a trillion does not prevent you from making money.

Slopulism is effective because people are idiots and happy to eat up lies that align with their priors. Nothing to do with material conditions.