If AI eventually allows companies to produce goods and services with far fewer workers, economies built around exchanging labor for income may face a fundamental contradiction. Three broad responses each demand a sacrifice: businesses could preserve jobs at the expense of potential profits, society could restrict AI and forgo some of its benefits, or economic systems could provide guaranteed income or broader ownership while accepting greater institutional dependence. The deeper question is whether existing ideas about liberty and economic independence can survive if meaningful opportunities to earn a living through work become scarce.