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What is the labor market, if not an interminable, poorly designed MMORPG? Most of us will be alive by the time there's enough economic incentive for all the th

What is the labor market, if not an interminable, poorly designed MMORPG? Most of us will be alive by the time there's enough economic incentive for all the things humanity needs, with only a token labor force. Many of the world's richest countries are already there, at least when it comes to their own citizens. In the future (i.e. the present, in the software world), to the extent that employers need workers, they going to have to compete for them with high salaries and copious perks. We'll largely conquer poverty, and we'll have a very large lower-middle class working part-time, a smallish upper-middle class of knowledge workers, and tiny class of ultrawealthy capitalists.

alphonsegaston 10y ago
I imagine it's going to be more like a handful of kleptocrat authoritarians, a small class of knowledge workers, and the rest are the shock troops of the above or the people who's heads their cracking for even thinking about rebelling.
- scarmig 10y ago
  Inner Party, Outer Party, and the proles...
ehnto 10y ago
Your assumptions rest on some very big claims, such as being able to work part time as a low end labour worker. I can't imagine how that would come about in a natural market unless cost of goods dropped even further, and that's not possible through automation alone. Food for example, still needs huge resources and even if it's 100% automated you can't avoid the use of the finite resources required for it. I do appreciate your optimism though, and I really hope we can work out how to arrive at a solution to the myriad of new problems without everything falling apart first. We need to show initiative, as it's going to be a race between preserving quality of life with proactive policy and the very quickly changing labour landscape removing the means to participate in the way communities are currently structured.
- acjohnson55 10y ago
  I see this part-time work happening via things like the informal economy and the sharing economy. We're certainly a long ways off from this dynamic playing out across the entire economy, but it seems to me to be the general direction we're headed.
  - pault 10y ago
    So the majority of the population will make their income from gray market work? I can see this being feasible only if we have fusion power, some kind of benevolent dictator and a fully developed social safety net. I do _not_ see this as an inevitable equilibrium state extrapolated from the current economy and political thinking, so if it does happen it will have to be the result of decades of hard dedicated work, much like our 40 hour work week.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - acjohnson55 10y ago
      Sure, think fusion power and UBI. I'm talking beyond the immediate future. And I don't think it's that crazy, current politics aside. People will eventually realize the factory jobs aren't returning and there will need to be a political solution. Or, we're in store for a much bleaker future...I have predictions for that one too.

alphonsegaston 10y ago

I imagine it's going to be more like a handful of kleptocrat authoritarians, a small class of knowledge workers, and the rest are the shock troops of the above or the people who's heads their cracking for even thinking about rebelling.

scarmig 10y ago
Inner Party, Outer Party, and the proles...

ehnto 10y ago

Your assumptions rest on some very big claims, such as being able to work part time as a low end labour worker. I can't imagine how that would come about in a natural market unless cost of goods dropped even further, and that's not possible through automation alone. Food for example, still needs huge resources and even if it's 100% automated you can't avoid the use of the finite resources required for it. I do appreciate your optimism though, and I really hope we can work out how to arrive at a solution to the myriad of new problems without everything falling apart first. We need to show initiative, as it's going to be a race between preserving quality of life with proactive policy and the very quickly changing labour landscape removing the means to participate in the way communities are currently structured.

acjohnson55 10y ago
I see this part-time work happening via things like the informal economy and the sharing economy. We're certainly a long ways off from this dynamic playing out across the entire economy, but it seems to me to be the general direction we're headed.
- pault 10y ago
  So the majority of the population will make their income from gray market work? I can see this being feasible only if we have fusion power, some kind of benevolent dictator and a fully developed social safety net. I do _not_ see this as an inevitable equilibrium state extrapolated from the current economy and political thinking, so if it does happen it will have to be the result of decades of hard dedicated work, much like our 40 hour work week.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - acjohnson55 10y ago
    Sure, think fusion power and UBI. I'm talking beyond the immediate future. And I don't think it's that crazy, current politics aside. People will eventually realize the factory jobs aren't returning and there will need to be a political solution. Or, we're in store for a much bleaker future...I have predictions for that one too.