Sorry but you’re wrong. People have been having this discussion since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and the situation has remained consistent, people who adapt their skills thrive, people that insist reality stop progressing fail. The technology WILL advance, the percentage of our manual labor done by machine WILL increase, the need for low skill workers WILL decrease. People need to protect themselves, not expect the world to help them.
You raise good points. But there is some complexity here that should also be weighed.
In 1700, how many people sat around and did nothing? Only the aristocracy — a very small percentage of the population. Everyone else worked and produced, or else they died. That’s just the way it was, whether anyone liked it or not.
Look at our world now. How many people in America sit around and do nothing? Quite a few — they may want to work, but work can be hard to find. A thread earlier today claimed that the real unemployment rate was close to 30%. That’s a lot of people who are not working — and not dying either.
As there is more automation, there will be greater possibility for people to contribute nothing — and you know we won’t let them starve. What economic system has a foolproof method of providing to everyone what they “need” even if they do not work? Socialism.
As automation increases, as labor is less needed, then the general societal trend toward Bigger Government, more socialism, and less respect for property will grow. I don’t like it. You don’t like it. But we need to see the very real danger in this social trend.
Sure, people can try to “protect themselves”, but the REAL danger is ... they won’t have to. They will expect to be taken care of, and they will be.
I think you misread my point because I'm not arguing that technological advancement is inherently bad or should stop. What I am arguing about is that we as a society need to decide if we should be doing something to help those displaced adapt to the new marketplace.
Not everyone is equipped to be a robotic engineer or handle the math for professions that rely heavily on math. As the return on labor diminishes and the return on capital rises there should be a way to open up opportunities that allow more and more people to become owners of capital.
People need to protect themselves, not expect the world to help them.
I'd rather have a society that is a little less stark or socially darwin. You may disagree but that's why we have political debates.
Great article in Wired about this....just watch CNBC ...Ultimate Factories