Subsistence Abundance Theory: How Artificial Intelligence Could Eliminate Material Poverty While Creating an Intergenerational Poverty of Capability

Subsistence Abundance Theory is a forward-looking economic-behavior hypothesis concerning the long-term consequences of artificial intelligence, robotics, and large-scale income provisioning. It proposes that technological abundance could eliminate material deprivation while creating a materially comfortable but structurally low-opportunity social class. If human labor becomes broadly unnecessary, ownership of productive assets remains concentrated, and education or effort offers limited improvement in autonomy or advancement, investment in difficult skills, delayed gratification, productive participation, and independent capital formation may weaken across generations. The theory distinguishes material security from wealth and agency. It does not claim that welfare programs cause poverty or that unconditional income necessarily destroys motivation. Instead, it examines a historically unprecedented condition in which people may be permanently provided for while remaining disconnected from ownership, productive institutions, and credible pathways to advancement. The paper develops the proposed intergenerational mechanism, examines relevant evidence and counterevidence, presents testable predictions, and outlines a policy framework centered on ownership, capability, responsibility, and meaningful advancement.