Maybe the function of our future tech isn't to liberate us but to allow us to go on living with the status quo, without feeling bad about it. Suddenly we have a justification for our austerity. It's not "if I acquired wealth I wouldn't be oppressed," but "I am oppressed so it's not my fault I have to live impoverished." And the buy-in to achieve this mental reversal is affectionately referred to as stacking sats.

Imagine, a conveniently robust, closed-loop system that perpetually presents us with a reason to get up in the (good) morning. If you think I'm being bearish, it's worse: I'm saying it might be the monumental achievement of a narcissistic generation incapable of facing reality: to hide from themselves right out in the open.