What does a world without full-time jobs look like?

CNN ^ | Aug. 22, 2015 | Jeanne Sahadi

[PROCON]

The most common occupation among American men is driving. But the advent of the driverless car could put lots of cab drivers, truck drivers and limo drivers out of work in the not-so-distant future.

Automation may also replace the jobs of many retail salespeople, cashiers, office clerks and food and beverage workers, said Derek Thompson, senior editor of The Atlantic, in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that will air Sunday.

"You look at the fleet of automated technologies, of software that exists right now, and it's rather frightening to me to think about how many jobs can be replaced by technologies that we understand to be right on the horizon," Thompson told Zakaria.

[Graybeard58]

Enjoyed your reply but I gotta go to bed now, have to get up early in the morning to go to my job as an elevator operator.

[octex]

My grandson (rightly IMO) chose trade school after HS. He has 8 certifications in welding and hasn’t been able to secure a job in the field in the DFW area. NO college debt!

Perhaps when the old union guys finally retire, he will be able to make a good living, as the businesses will need his skills. .....Meantime, he’s worked at Waffle House, Joe’s Crab Shack and is now driving a fork lift. Mid-20s, with skills and unable to find work in his field... Just like college grads of that age that are flipping burgers and are 10s of thousands in debt that they’ll never pay off.

[Bryanw92]

Star Trek has the matter replicator and cheap abundant power. We have wastewater to treat , oil to pump out of the ground, etc.

There is no means test in full bore socialism. Everyone gets the basic living stipend (BLS). So who works? If you get enough free money to have a nice little life, why would anyone go work in a sewage treatment plant?

It would either have to pay very well, as an add-on to the BLS, or they would have to make people do it. Same for every dirty, nasty, sweaty job. Not everyone gets to be an artist or vineyard owner in socialism without a matter replicator. Some people have to be laborer. In fact, most people have to be laborer a until the robots are perfected.

And then you have 6 billon useless eaters in the world, so be careful what you wish for unless you have robot repair skills.

But, getting back to the BLS. I work in the utility industry as a supervisor of SCADA technicians. It is the cleanest job in utilities, but it is still nasty. The hours are long and the demands are high. If you gave me a BLS, I would probably quit tomorrow and go find a BLS-supplement job that would let me go home at night, very night, and would leave my weekends free.

Full bore socialism requires coercion to get things done. Means tested socialism is just crony capitalism for certain people. Our present system is just crony capitalism for those with connections and power. In all three, the working middle class is the slave labor force that keeps it all running and it is seen as the most expendable.

[mdmathis6]

if your son could pool with a few welders in his area with similar certifications(and similar problems with getting work)...they could start a business that can charge prices that undercut what the established business are doing in his area forcing the ‘old guys’ to compete. There may be “low hanging” fruit
that the business can use to help establish their “street cred” that the other business don’t like trifling with!