In 1800 something like 90% of Americans were farmers.
By 1900 it was still over 50% of Americans farming.
By 2000 less than 5% of Americans worked on farms.
First of all, was there any reduction in US farm output as a result of declining farming populations? No, just the opposite.
And where did all those former farmers go?
For well over 100 years they went into manufacturing, which peaked as a percentage sometime after 1960. Since then, just as with farming, productivity per worker has vastly increased, while numbers of manufacturing jobs declined.
Where are all those former manufacturing workers now going? To service jobs -- in venacular, they (we) are flipping hamburgers and selling real estate. They (we) are also designing, building, operating and repairing the hi-tech machines which have eliminated so many unskilled workers' jobs.
Here's the ultimate truth of the matter: in the long run, unskilled work will go away. What will remain forever are the hi-tech and service jobs. And most in demand will be those rare folks who combine the personal skills of a salesman with the technical skill of an engineer.
That's the future FRiend. Go for it. :-)
The ultimate solution is not service jobs because we don’t need so many in those businesses. Malls and stores are closing right and left. Many to most service jobs are idiotic and provide no real benefit to society. Like all those nail salons that sprung up in the last few decades.
Plenty of the consumer crap is inane too thus those that sell it are useless too
My point is that plenty of what passes for economic activity in America is pointless and not needed. A huge medical sector that contributes hugely to GDP just means people are sicker than they should be and should drop their unhealthy habits. Then the GDP shrinks