We do now seem to have a technology “problem.” And it is only likely to get worse and worse.
In spite of my commitment to conservative principles, it’s getting difficult for me to see how we avoid ending up with increasing socialism. When you have machines producing the wealth, and larger and larger numbers of people are out of work because the jobs simply are no longer available, what else can you do but pass laws that tax the owners of the machines, and give paychecks to the unemployed?
You can of course tax the machines and create meaningless jobs that produce nothing (like additional government bureaucracy). Or, I suppose you could create government jobs for building things like bridges and roads.
Given the rise of the machines, though, I’m just not quite certain where we go from here.
No, you’re making it too hard. The problem is NOT techonology, in fact technology is the answer, the solution.
The problem is government. Read “Atlas Shrugged”.
Take government out of the picture, let free market forces work, and this problem will resolve itself very quickly.
Socialism is the most likely eventual outcome, I think. The whole idea of the market begins to break down when machines are able to perform most tasks. If people aren’t able to earn a living because they have been displaced by technology, who remains to buy the products and services rendered by that technology? At some point it all becomes meaningless activity.