What Are the Rich Really Playing? Buying Control Over Other People’s Lives by Leveraging Chokeholds
In the agricultural era, what were the wealthy doing? They were buying arable land, especially prime farmland. Look at White Deer Plain, where Bai Jiaxuan schemed and planned just to acquire a single paddy field. Why did he want to buy land? To put himself in a chokehold on labor—specifically, to control the throat of the workforce. In agriculture, labor is human, and humans need to eat. So when you control the land, you control the people. These human laborers come under your command. By purchasing land, you're actually buying the right to支配 others—their lives, their time.
Then came the industrial era. What were the rich doing? They were buying real estate, especially properties that are easy to rent out or resell. People need somewhere to live. When you buy up all the well-located units, commuters face inconvenience—they either have to pay you a premium to take over, or they must pay you rent. How do they pay that premium? Through loans, which amounts to mortgaging their future thirty years of labor. How do they pay rent? Through work, which means handing over the支配权 of their daily time.
In essence, they were still buying labor. Because modern society has become more civilized, people can no longer be bought and sold outright as in ancient times. So the wealthy ended up buying labor indirectly instead.
Through a chokehold strategy.
The AI era follows the same pattern.
The wealthy buying into AI are operating on a simple belief: that humans will be replaced, that humans will no longer serve as labor. If they consider AI machines to be the labor force of the future, then their actions amount to purchasing future labor.
They're snapping up electricity everywhere. What exactly are they buying? The thinking is identical to those who bought land twenty years ago. When you build a house, you need land. When you build AI, you need electricity, energy, and the relevant minerals. The underlying game hasn't changed at all.
Want to buy labor? You've got to control its throat.