[Momaw Nadon]

I believe that, in theory, it is possible create an army of robotic workers who will generate wealth and allow people to enjoy life without having to go to work.

[Kaiwen]

Who gets stuck fixing the robots?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Are you trying to get help with writing a paper for class or something?

Just remember this: Generally, there are no shortcuts.

[Republic of Texas]

NO.

[Aliska]

Sometimes you love your job so much it's not really work. It's play.

I never had a job like that but I know people who do/have.

[Brett66]

How about if everyone is assigned there own robotic worker. It's ability and maintennance are up to you. The better repairman/robotic hot rodder you are, the more your robot is capable of, the more money you make. I have no idea how this could work with white collar labor. ;)

[AntiGuv]

Self-replicating nanobots - check back in 50 years or so...

[Mark Felton]

How will you enjoy life?

Will you watch robots acting on TV?

Will you read a book written by robots?

Will you see a robot Dr.?

Will the politicians be robots? (kinda like Al Gore)

Will the policemen be robots? The Judges?

Who will decide which robots will do what work?

[Bobber58]

there really aren't that many idle rich and quite a few of those are Demonrats who have bought themselves congressional seats so they can keep others from becoming idle or rich...

[DWSUWF]

"...Is it possible to create a political socioeconomic system in which nobody has to work?..."

My kids are constantly doing research with this goal in mind...

[AAABEST]

Will your program your "robot" come up with dumb ideas?

[Senator Pardek]

[Billthedrill]

TANSTAAFL, baby. You wouldn't like it, a life of idleness, being hand-fed and fawned over constantly by a bevy of beautiful supermodels and starlets. I hate it, myself.

[weikel]

Its a few hundred years off and there will still be people needed to monitor the robots so they don't kill us all( above all no emotions well except maybe for the pleasure droids).

[jwfiv]

In short...nope.

[maro]

That's as silly as the Star Trek assumption that enlightened future societies will not need money (unlike the benighted Ferengi). Robots may increase the standard of living, but there will always be a scarcity of resources, and therefore always work to earn money to get those resources. Even today, you don't really have to work to get food, in our semi-socialist society, what with food stamps and welfare and relief organizations, but work is required to buy Play Stations, live in nice houses, buy copyrighted music etc. Thus it shall ever be.

[neutrino]

Sure. Actually, you need two elements; first, the general purpose robots you propose to interact with the macro world - delivery of goods, for example, and repair of the infrastructure, including the robots themselves.

Second, you need to develop nanotechnology, and the ability to manipulate matter at the molecular - or, better, atomic - level. That way, you can overcome the natural resource issues that might otherwise be a problem.

Actually, we're already seeing the first stirrings of such a world. Fewer and fewer people are involved in the production of the "stuff" we want and need such as food, cars, houses, and so forth.

I'm not so sure that this will be a good thing; for I note that many of those who are exempt from such a requirement often develop bad habits. Welfare recipients and occupants of public housing come to mind, as do the inheritors of great wealth. But I fully expect to see the trends develop over the next decade or so.

[Revolting cat!]

The last time I looked, we already have such a system. It's called the welfare state and it meets your requirement perfectly: nobody has to work!

[Cultural Jihad]

... but in which we are all wealthy.

LOL! Assuming each and every person had exactly $500,000,000,000.00 in the bank, there would then be no wealth at all.

[glc1173@aol.com]

Only if the nation or region involved has vast exportable wealth - and the Kuwaitis and Dutch have largely done just that with their oil and natural-gas fields. Holland's natural-gas fields has made it possible to put any citizen just not wanting to work on benefits realistically approaching after-tax earnings there indefinitely.

Otherwise, how the hell would any such system work? How would it get cash for the government - other than by taxing its totally-nonworking population?

[timm22]

If a person was able to make a robot with a "brain" equivalent to a human's, it might be possible for humans to live without ever working again. If the robots were smart enough, they could fix each other, manufacture replacements, and even create companionship and intellectual stimulation for us.

To avoid ethical questions and the accusation of slavery, the robots could be initially programmed to love work and service. This could also help prevent the seemingly inevitable robot rebellion, as seen in Terminator and The Matrix.