ArcaMax

Step right up, folks! Please don't crowd! No need to shove, plenty here for everyone!

Welcome to the Bonanza Extravaganza of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) "BOOM." Silicon Valley billionaires are now proposing a scheme to deliver an unbelievable windfall to "every citizen." Tech titans like Sam Altman of OpenAI are pushing the federal government to create a "public wealth fund" to let us commoners be investment partners in building the AI wonderworld.

Lest you worry that this might be a corporate scam, note that President Donald Trump, the deal-maker-in-chief, exults that letting the American public buy into the tech booms is a sure bet to "make them rich." And Altman adds that a public investment fund would allow Joe and Jill Schmo to "participate directly in the upside of AI-driven growth."

Wow -- benevolent capitalism!

But wait -- aren't AI barons infamous greedheads who constantly rig the system for themselves, sneer at the public and openly disdain government programs? Well ... yes.

And wait again -- they say we would "share in the upside" of AI, but what about the downside? Far from profitable, all of the industry's powerhouses, including OpenAI, are losing hundreds of billions of dollars while carelessly adding trillions in new debt and -- shhhh -- quietly admitting that their razzle-dazzle computer fantasies might not work.

They won't tell you this, but going bust is a real possibility. And that is why AI's private-enterprise whizzes are now so desperately pushing us taxpayers to become their socialist "partners." If and when they fail, our role is to save their bacon by demanding that "the public" deserves a government bailout.

BUSINESS THAT DELIVERS FOR THE COMMON GOOD

I've always supported small businesses, including having my own little media operation that has long allowed me to run my mouth for a living.

One of the greatest aspects of being small -- as opposed to a corporation, conglomerate or chain -- is that you're the boss. I don't mean bossy, autocratic, "The Big Jerk." I mean, you have the flexibility to shape the enterprise according to deeper values than selfish profit and business "efficiency." Concepts like fairness, integrity, community, diversity -- even fun -- come to the fore.

Despite today's corporatized, politically rigid economic order, such value-driven small business mavericks flourish all across America. For example, P. Terry's Burger Stand here in Austin. Started 20 years ago by Patrick and Kathy Terry, it's a small local chain of 38 restaurants embracing the down-home ideals of quality, affordability and community support.

But they also nurtured a core element of good business that is too often disregarded: Employees. As Kathy put it: "We believed that taking care of people -- and building a great business -- were not competing ideas." Fair wages, basic needs, respect, belonging, advancement, happiness -- these are the "inputs" that actually matter to the people who do the work and, through them, generate business success.

Now the Terrys are taking two big steps to expand their ideals. One, they've set up a company-wide profit-sharing system, so their 1,800 employees get a share of business income in addition to their paycheck. And two, they've created a special trust to provide employee ownership that can carry the values into the future.

To learn more about businesses that live up to such progressive ideals, go to the National Center for Employee Ownership: nceo.org

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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