America brought to its knees
America brought to its knees
... a trope about consequences
This is a hypothetical and intentionally polarizing bit of prose. Read at your own peril.
The slow-burning banking contagion that starts in ‘23 chews up one third of US capital markets. While the economy shows enough resilience to stay afloat, recessionary forces are being kept at bay until - in the middle of ‘24 - the wheels come off the bus. Inflation roars back, 10s of millions are unemployed and are hitting hard times. It is presidential campaign high season.
Uniting enough far-left voices and far-right voices calling for the responsible parties to be brought to justice, the sentiment of the nation flips. Committees are spun up and in nearly un-contested public debates pin Section 230 as the source of all evil. The freedom bestowed upon the U.S. people by this legislation is branded the enabler of rampant abuse from technology oligarchs.
Public outcry mobilizes campaigning U.S. government officials at un=precedented scale. the DOJ leads the pack. AI is in their cross-hairs.
Regulatory roadblocks pop up everywhere, in copyright and publishing laws, targeting scraping of content and distribution channels anywhere. Any business will be required to account for traceability of their sources, and traceable rights for content being created. While artists are not the first take solace in the defense of their creations, the relief is temporary.
On the other side of the world, India and Nigeria find alignment on their geo-political goals. These countries leverage brawn-and-brain might, including last market of cheap labor and engineering expertise to catapult themselves to become the top technology infrastructure providers. They establish clones of open-source AI models, remove legal and business barriers. They see a spring of successful companies winning by monetizing re-used content at scale.
An American mass tech exodus ensues. With the financial and technology sectors in shambles, the U.S. military all but ceases to exist and leaves the U.S. impoverished and toothless.
Is that scenario possible? Sure.
Is it likely? I think not.
What does it tell us about our assumptions?