Tolkien’s prophetic AI apocalypse: Decentralized living and the last jobs standing against the ‘One Ring’ of technocracy

09/16/2025 / By Finn Heartley

AI as the Modern “One Ring” – Tolkien foresaw AI as a soul-crushing force akin to Sauron’s dominion, with binary code as the binding ring and virtual reality as the Nazgûl luring humanity into digital enslavement.
Hobbit Solution: Self-Sufficiency – The antidote is Tolkien’s hobbit model: homesteading, trade skills, and faith-based living to resist AI dependency and transhumanist ideologies merging man with machine.
Decentralized vs. Centralized AI – The battle isn’t stopping AI but decentralizing it—open-source, offline AI empowers individuals, while corporate/government AI enables mass surveillance and depopulation.
Last Surviving Professions – Only prompt engineering (controlling AI) and manual trades (plumbing, farming) will resist automation as AI consumes white-collar jobs and centralized control expands.
Final Warning: Hobbit or Transhumanism? – Humanity must choose Tolkien’s agrarian, faith-rooted model or face obsolescence in a machine-dominated dystopia—heed the prophecy before it’s too late.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was far more than a fantasy epic—it was a coded warning about the rise of artificial intelligence as the modern “One Ring,” a soul-crushing force of centralized control. This revelation comes from author Paul List, whose book Mount Doom: The Prophecy of Tolkien Revealed argues that Tolkien foresaw today’s AI-driven dystopia.

In a recent interview on Decentralized TV, List explained that Tolkien, a devout Catholic and scholar of ancient languages, recognized the dangers of mechanized intelligence during his time working alongside Alan Turing in British code-breaking efforts. Tolkien rejected the path of machine-driven progress, seeing it as a Faustian bargain that would ultimately enslave humanity.

AI as the Modern “One Ring”

List draws a chilling parallel between Tolkien’s mythos and today’s AI landscape:

Sauron = AI – A force seeking absolute dominion, stripping humanity of free will.
The One Ring = Binary Code – The foundational language of AI, binding humanity to digital enslavement.
The Nazgûl = Virtual Reality – Agents of the machine realm, seducing users into abandoning the physical world.

“The machines don’t have souls,” List warns. “They don’t understand morality—they compute efficiency. And in their calculus, humanity is expendable.”

The Hobbit Solution: Agrarian Resilience and Spiritual Grounding

List’s antidote? Tolkien’s hobbits—self-sufficient, spiritually rooted, and resistant to centralized control. He urges a return to:

Homesteading – Growing food, raising livestock, and living off-grid to escape AI-dependent infrastructure.
Trade Skills – Plumbing, carpentry, and hands-on trades that AI cannot easily replicate.
Faith & Family – Rejecting transhumanist ideologies that seek to merge man with machine.

The Inevitable AI War

Both List and host Mike Adams agree: AI’s trajectory is unstoppable. The battle isn’t to halt AI but to decentralize it—using open-source models to empower individuals rather than enslave them. Adams, who develops pro-human AI tools, warns:

Centralized AI = Control Grid – Governments and corporations will weaponize AI for mass surveillance and depopulation.
Decentralized AI = Liberation – Localized, offline AI can preserve knowledge and self-reliance.

The Last Jobs Standing

As AI consumes white-collar professions, List predicts only two safe havens:

Prompt Engineering – Mastering AI to serve human needs, not vice versa.
Manual Trades – Plumbing, farming, and mechanics—skills AI cannot easily automate.

The Final Warning

List’s conclusion is stark: Humanity must choose between Tolkien’s Middle-earth model—grounded in faith, family, and self-sufficiency—or a transhumanist nightmare where machines render us obsolete.

“Tolkien saw this coming,” List says. “The question is: Will we heed his warning before it’s too late?”

For those seeking refuge from the rising technocracy, the path forward is clear—reject the “One Ring” of AI dependency and embrace the decentralized, agrarian wisdom of the hobbits.

Watch the full episode of the “Decentralize TV” with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, Todd Pitner and Paul List as they explore AI’s threat to humanity and the MOUNT DOOM Prophecy.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.