OPINION: Elon Musk’s ‘universal high income’ pitch is a non-starter – here’s why
Recent comments made at the White House by tech titans and beyond have cast a vision of a world filled with robots, whilst humans’ roles are significantly reduced. What are we to make of this?
Opinion-editorial by Summer Lane | October 2, 2026
“Odd thing it is—the word ‘experiment’ is unpopular, but not the word ‘experimental.”
This, a line plucked from C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, seems to highlight the truth of today’s world. As the nation plunges headfirst into an almost fever pitch over AI development, plenty of voices are piping up and asking, “Is this wise? Is this safe? Is this necessary?”
Meanwhile, the billionaire technocracy is quick to insist that this is not an experiment – not at all! In fact, AI, or as President Trump now calls it, “Super Intelligence,” is poised to usher in an “Age of Abundance,” the way these tech bros tell it.
Indeed, these are the very words used by Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI CEO Elon Musk.
“I think by far the most likely outcome is an Age of Abundance, where we don’t have just universal basic income, we have universal high income.”
Musk argued that with “Super Intelligence” and robots, “everyone in the world” will have better medical care, and instead of sitting on a computer to do a job, there will be an “evolution of roles.”
Musk continued, “And as the president has mentioned, it’s not as though unemployment has increased. In fact, there’s a tremendous demand for people. So, I think the most likely outcome – and it’s probably worth looking at, the most likely outcome…is one which is incredibly beneficial.”
Perhaps most alarmingly is that during these comments, at the mention of universal high income, President Donald Trump nodded his head and remarked, “That’s good.”
What gives?
Universal income, in any form, means that Americans are not working. Period. Yes, there will be an evolution of jobs, but how many? How many people will be left without their hard-earned career at the end of the day? And who gets to decide what that “universal high income” will amount to for each individual?
As previously reported on LindellTV, it has been postulated that as many as 300 million people could lose their jobs to AI in the coming years. This is catastrophic. Say goodbye to the value of any college degree, medical training, or work experience, because AI can do it better, faster, and at little cost.
This is the chilling reality that lies ahead. Universal high income is not compatible with the American model of hard work and a free market. Universal high income is simply a form of digital communism.
In this vein, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) recently pointed out that these new AI data centers could serve as tributaries for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
“Could also serve as the arteries for central bank digital currency and resulting social credit system,” he remarked on X. “Nothing wrong with taking a measured, realistic view that recognizes both the possible upsides and potential downsides.”
He’s right. There’s also the lingering question: if everyone makes a high basic income, where is the incentive to innovate, achieve, and push the boundaries of creativity? Political ideologues will debate this point to death, but the reality remains. America was built on hard work and the ability to burst out of whatever social caste system you were born into. With work ethic and elbow grease, anything is possible.
Basic income, by contrast, caps you. Constrains you. Keeps you pinned. Keeps you at the mercy of a government who awards you capital based on…what? Social performance? Political compliance? This should send a chill up everyone’s spine.
This “Super Intelligence” that threatens the very foundations of messy, imperfect, but important humanity and culture, stands to rewrite history in its own image, in its own way. It stands to reshape the future – but how?
In 1984, George Orwell offers this prophetic line:
And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested.
When all else fails, Americans must look down at their own two hands and their own two feet and feel the dirt between their toes and remember: this is real, this is necessary, this is good.
And AI must not be allowed to take that away.
Photo: Adobe Stock
