I remember watching an American civil war documentary that linked the dire state of the southern economy to slavery. Whilst it is true that robots != slaves, a

I remember watching an American civil war documentary that linked the dire state of the southern economy to slavery. Whilst it is true that robots != slaves, at least from an ethical standpoint, the fact that an increasing portion of our economic production is done by unpaid (nonhuman) labour might land us in similarly dismal economic straits. For the record, I don't think the answer is to pay the robots a salary! :-) More seriously, I'm also equivocal about the benefits of universal income. A job is about more than money, it's also about identity and self-actualisation. Perhaps a mixture of universal income and indirect public subsidies for academic, heritage-craft, public service and other charitable / vocational work might be the answer?