JD Vance recalls his wife texting him under table at Silicon Valley dinner: 'These people are f---ing crazy'

Vance noted that he was discussing his concern that the nation was "heading in a direction where America could no longer support middle-class families working on middle-class wages," and that even if there were sufficient "economic dynamism to provide the wealth to ensure" individuals were able to afford to purchase a home and food, and the monetary aspect of work were replaced, the purpose and dignity of work would be destroyed.

Vance said that when he asked the CEO what he thought would replace people's sense of purpose, the exec's answer was "digital, fully-immersive gaming."

Vance told the story while speaking at the American Dynamism Summit on Tuesday.

During the remarks, Vance described "cheap labor" as a "crutch that inhibits innovation" and a "drug that too many American firms got addicted to."

He said the U.S. will not "win the future by ditching child labor laws or paying our workers less than Chinese or Vietnamese laborers. We don't want that, and it's not on the table," he said.

Instead, Vance said the nation can win by both protecting workers and supporting innovators.