Preamble: The Crossroad — Companion Notes
The tools for abundance are here. The bottleneck is our operating system.
Read these next
- The 2025-2030 Labor Cliff: 30% of work hours automated by 2030—the numbers behind Maria’s story.
- Humanoid Robots 2025: Tesla Optimus, Figure 01, 1X Neo—available now at $499/month.
- AI Coding Revolution: GitHub Copilot writes 46% of code, 55% productivity gains, 80% AI-generated code by 2027.
- Musk’s Universal High Income: The distinction between UBI (survival) and UHI (abundance).
- Fusion Timeline 2024-2030: From breakeven to commercial delivery by 2028.
Key data points
- 1.1 million layoffs announced in first ten months of 2025 (65% increase from 2024)
- 1X Neo robot: $499/month = $3/hour vs. minimum wage $7.25-15/hour
- Tesla Optimus: Market in 2026 at $20-30K, targeting sub-$10K eventually
- GitHub Copilot: 46% of code in files where active, 55% speed increase
- Fusion breakeven: December 5, 2022 at NIF; Helion delivery to Microsoft by 2028
- McKinsey projection: 30% of work hours automated by 2030
The two paths
- Star Wars Path: Tech billionaires keep everything; abundance becomes artificial scarcity with subscriptions.
- Star Trek Path (But Smarter): Network of free communities; basics as birthright; contribution earns opportunity.
Six crossroads ahead
- The Individual: What drives people when work is optional?
- The System: How do billions cooperate without chaos or tyranny?
- The Foundation: What principles can never be broken?
- The Citizen: Who counts as a person?
- The Evolution: Humans and AI—together or apart?
- The Transition: How do we switch systems without collapse?
Coming soon
- Interactive timeline of the labor cliff by industry.
- Fusion energy tracker and commercial deployment map.