The All-Collar Crisis: When White Collar Work Meets Blue-Collar Reality
Hold onto your collars. The AI-generated crisis of work is here, and the storm will concentrate on white-collar workers from the professional economy. According to Julia Hobsbawm, founder of Workathon.io, these workers are about to experience the dismal reality of blue-collar redundancy. 50% of the US workforce will be freelance by 2030, some experts warn, making this transition the biggest shift in the nature of work since the Industrial Revolution. Humans can't be completely replaced by machines, Hobsbawm says. But enough will be replaced to create mass suffering — the same conditions that generated the revolutionary movements of the 19th century.
Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Move Fast and Break the World: Jonathan Taplin on Trump as an Interregnum
So Are All Immigrants Manchurian Candidates? Peter Schweizer on How Mexico, China, and the Muslim Brotherhood Are Weaponizing Immigration
Gatsby Without the Romance: Michael Wolff on Why Trump and Epstein Are the Same Person
How to Reclaim the Internet: Olivier Sylvain on Platforms and Policy
No AI Good Guys? Andrew & Keith Ask If Altman Amodei, & Hegseth Have All Failed the Leadership Test
What Would Daniel Ellsberg Say About Iran? His Son Michael on America’s Most Famous Whistleblower
From the Muckers to the Mullahs: Christopher Clark on the Lessons of History
How To Fix Big Med: Halle Tecco and Robin Blackstone on American Healthcare and its Discontents
The Coming Storm: Odd Arne Westad Asks If We're On the Brink of World War Three
Racism as Entertainment: Rhae Lynn Barnes on Darkology and American Culture
A Chosen Land for a Chosen People? Matthew Avery Sutton on How Christianity Made America and America Remade Christianity
American Yellow Vests? Manissa Maharawal on the Fight Against Tech-Led Gentrification in San Francisco
Is Anthropic Wrong? Andrew vs. Keith on Amodei vs. Trump