Rebellion News

Congress must act now before it’s too late

Freda Drake

“Anybody who can go down 300 to 3,000 feet in a mine sure in hell can learn to program as well,” Joe Biden stated in 2019. He was addressing the problem of many soon-to-be-jobless coal miners in the Marie Antoinette style of “let them eat cake!”

Back then, the loss of some blue collar jobs was somewhat easily dismissed, in part because there weren’t enough people affected to create a national ruckus. But, with the exponential growth of artificial intelligence, will Americans be so easily placated?

This time white collar jobs are on the line, and a hell of a lot more people are going to be severely impacted.

Despite Elon Musk urging for government regulation, President Trump is doing everything he can to pave the way for AI while removing the brakes on this runaway 18-wheeler truck bearing down on the American public.

As a publicist, I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I’m irreplaceable. However, I don’t think AI can replace me at this time, as there’s a great deal of creativity, fast pivoting, and strategizing that isn’t easily replicated by our current models of AI.

But, AI is currently poised to replace my writers and authors, artists, and more. We may need fewer doctors: Even now, one doctor can oversee a number of nurses and PAs. (Sadly, we will never run out of politicians. As my grandmother used to say, “The Devil takes care of his own.”)

I’ve been talking about this with increasing urgency. I’ve written to my Congressional representatives. I’ve posted about it. But the deck is stacked against me and anyone else who questions The AI Revolution.
To its credit, the Screen Actor’s Guild saw this coming. They were able to go on strike and force some concessions. Yet, despite these concessions, ultimately SAG/AFTRA will lose. It’s being predicted that Musk’s Grok 4 will soon be able to write a full-length movie script, staff it with AI humans, and create a deliverable product. Stranger Things proved you don’t need well-known actors to produce a major hit.

But what about the everyday, average American? The only people we have representing us are in Congress, and Congress is ignoring the issue in favor of more glamorous problems which result in dramatic soundbites.

President Trump has framed his support of AI development as a matter of national security and, yes, China recently released their own version. DeepSeek caused some raised eyebrows when it was discovered that it was funneling information directly back to CCP headquarters.
Well, of course it was.

DeepSeek was also a somewhat inferior product and possibly built from pirated programming, but it’s still impressive enough that the American government views this as a significant threat. A threat so very significant that they are desperately promoting whatever they can to give us a lead in this race.
Just as they did with the COVID vaccines.

Yeah, you and I are both looking at that last sentence and seeing it as the bombshell statement that it is. But I’m sticking with it because, no matter what side you’re on, everyone acknowledges that the COVID vaccines were rushed out with little-to-no oversight and some serious repercussions.

As a nation, did we have a choice? Perhaps not. I’m one of those people who got vaccinated, and I was relieved and grateful for the opportunity. However, not everyone had the same results.
This is our chance to learn from our mistakes. Giving carte blanche to private entities is always dangerous because these entities are inevitably profit-driven to the exclusion of all else.

At one time, I taught a business course at a graduate level so I was exposed to many interesting concepts, including the idea that corporations are psychopathic because they always work toward their own best interests.

To be clear, I’m not opposed to business whatsoever! I’ve worked for Chambers of Commerce, as well as many private entities and they were an intrinsic part of my successes. America’s great love of business and the intrepid entrepreneur is how we became that “shining city upon a hill,” as Ronald Reagan famously said. But we would be fools to ignore the obvious.

Look: When a business takes on a cause, is it because it’s a cause they truly believe in? Or is it simply a cause that their customer base believes in? Have you ever seen a business take on a cause, knowing that it would destroy them? Of course not. They have stockholders or business owners to answer to.
When Bud Light and Target miscalculated, they course-corrected. “Go woke, go broke” became the rallying cry for their neglected customer base.

However, Nike didn’t appear to have that problem because their customer base was believed to be far more left-leaning than the customers who frequent Target or pick up a six-pack of Bud Light. Yet, Nike astonished many people when they recently released a more traditionalist family-oriented commercial undoubtedly with the goal of appealing to a broader customer base.

We need to face it: All businesses will do what is best for the bottom line.
Wouldn’t you? Don’t tell me that you’re more noble than that!
If your competition is producing the same product at cheaper prices, you must adapt quickly. Better to be lean and mean than a blip in the rear view window as that 18-wheeler blows by you.

Oh yes, it’s a race. It’s a race to the bottom.
Currently our local Home Depot has expanded its self-service checkout lines and eliminated all cashiers. One employee told me (in a hushed tone) that the majority of the employees now work part-time. Why not simply fire or lay off at least half of them? Well that’s obvious, isn’t it: Home Depot’s unemployment taxes would go up. This way, many of the employees will readily quit on their own, costing the company nothing. In the end, the savings will be enormous.

Likewise, all businesses will profit from using AI in some form. And, unless they’re forced to do otherwise, they will happily use AI in place of their current workforce whenever possible.
The real question isn’t about your company’s use of AI. Instead, it’s about how many employees can be replaced in order to maximize profits while minimizing prices.

Dario Amodei (AI expert and CEO of Anthropic) estimates 50% of all white collar jobs will be eliminated within the next 5 years, resulting in 10% – 20% unemployment rates.

Politicians can’t afford to ignore this. Computer programs don’t pay taxes. Meanwhile, Congress is spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave. We are increasing our debt astronomically but facing a massive reduction in taxes and an inevitable increase in social welfare.

Entry level jobs will be virtually eliminated and college graduates will soon be asking “would you like fries with that?” instead.
No, scratch that. Fast food restaurants have already given that job to AI.

Freda Drake is a publicist and author of Publicity on Steroids. She’s worked in both the public and private sectors, with politicians and industries ranging from publishing houses to biopharmaceuticals. You can find her at fredadrake.com or @drfredadrake on X.