Layer II; Potlatch, Non-wealth and the AI bubble

Human economy is not based around accumulating wealth, but instead its actual nature is to be wasted. The act of expenditure is what brings purpose to wealth. This aspect of general economy has been developed by Bataille in his own philosophical and economic essays (The Accursed Share vol. 1 being one of my favorites).

AI has been a thing for decades now, but in the last few years it has become an object of investment. Why? Certainly not for revenue. In fact, it is due to the exact opposite. Along with other internet based economic fiascos (like NFTs and the metaverse), AI and LLMs have become the most favorable way of wasting wealth.

As a species, we are enacting the potlatch (in Bataille’s terms) once again, not through war but through the expenditure of massive amounts of wealth that go right down the drain. But I don't think billionaires are spending massive amounts of money as an alternative to war. After all, war still exists around the globe. Rather, thanks to the value of money being a complete simulacra, completely disconnected to any sort of physical phenomena that holds that value down to earth, we have accumulated so much wealth that we had to find new ways of expenditure.

This wasted wealth was a non-existent wealth in the first place, so it’s no surprise that it is being burned in front of our eyes. Humans, and their economic nature, revolve around sacrifice.