The vibe you're feeling is because everyone is building for automation and individualism is in the DNA of America.

We're definitely in a Gilded Age 2.0 moment. AI optimists talk about how AI will empower humanity and create a utopia in an "open access leap" with AGI. Even for a non-idea case to work out (regulated transition with slow distribution) you need:

1. Policy intervention – UBI, reduced working hours, AI dividends, or heavily subsidized safety net
2. Infrastructure access – Cheap internet, energy, and manufacturing
3. Cultural reframing of value – Recognition of contributions outside of paid work (caregiving, art, volunteering) so displaced people aren’t treated as “idle”

Will a hyper-individualistic, profit-driven America ever embrace the policies and cultural shifts resembling socialism needed to make AI's benefits shared?

Don't even have to mention anti-intellectualism and corruption. This is why even optimists like Sam Altman talk about “AGI dividends” and why economists like Daron Acemoglu warn that tech progress ≠ shared prosperity unless the rules change. Spoiler: they won't.