Liu Cixin Prophet Series #2: Supporting Humanity vs Billionaire Era

Liu Cixin's Prophecy #2: "Supporting Humanity" vs The Age of Billionaires

I. Extreme Wealth Inequality in "Supporting Humanity"

"Supporting Humanity" (赡养人类), published in 2005, presents a deeply unsettling future: on "First Earth," all wealth is concentrated in one person's hands. The rest are exiled into space.

- One person owning 100% of all wealth

- Rich monopolize education; poor children are forever unable to rise

- AI and robots replace all human labor

- "Supporting" the displaced poor becomes a new form of slavery

II. The Super-Rich Era of 2025

Twenty years later, many of Liu's warnings are accelerating:

Billionaire Explosion: Global billionaire wealth grew over 50% between 2020-2025. The richest 1% own more than the other 99% combined.

Top Billionaires: Musk (~$200-250B), Bezos (~$180-220B), Arnault (~$150-200B), Zuckerberg (~$150-180B). Their combined wealth exceeds many nations' GDP.

Technological Unemployment: AI replacing white-collar jobs; autonomous driving threatening millions of drivers; automation eating manufacturing jobs.

Educational Inequality: Elite universities remain class-stratified globally.

III. Prophecy vs Reality

- Wealth: One person owns everything → 8 people own half the world

- Tech unemployment: Machines replace all → AI replacing knowledge work

- Education: Rich monopolize → Elite class stratification

- Space: Poor exiled → Space tourism exists, extremely expensive

When technology makes most people economically worthless, how should society organize? Universal Basic Income (UBI) discussions are intensifying worldwide — perhaps a gentler version of Liu's "Supporting Humanity" plan.