5 ms·
To me this entire argument "woe us if we run out of work to do" is directly self-contradictory. If people are miserable because they don't have the necessities
by soberhoff 9y ago
To me this entire argument "woe us if we run out of work to do" is directly self-contradictory. If people are miserable because they don't have the necessities of life, then, by definition, there's work left to do. On the other hand if there really is no work left to do, then everybody should be perfectly content with their material wealth.
- milcron 9y agoI think this was more true when America had an open frontier, and anyone unhappy with their lot in life could strike out West and homestead. Today, if I have no modern job, where can I procure food? The land is all spoken for. I can't just start a farm in someone's backyard.
- drabiega 9y agoThere's plenty of work left to do, but almost all of it requires labor to be combined with other resources which are scarce.
- smelterdemon 9y agoThe problem is automation could conceivably create a (sufficiently) closed system wherein a capitalist class can fulfil their desires for material wealth with minimal need for labor, while the masses lack access to the means of creating wealth (i.e. the tools of automation) or even fulfilling the basic necessities of life.