3 ms·
The promise of machinery, computers, automation, and robots was that humans could stop working so hard and so many hours. Instead productivity, hours worked, an
by freehunter 6y ago
The promise of machinery, computers, automation, and robots was that humans could stop working so hard and so many hours. Instead productivity, hours worked, and profits made have skyrocketed, while free time and worker compensation have remained stagnant.
If everyone cut their hours in half the only thing that would happen is growth would slow a little bit and billionaires would make a little less money. If people are going hungry, that's not a problem of productivity. There is more than enough money in most Western countries to make sure that doesn't happen. The only problem is how that money is distributed.
- luckylion 6y agoPeople want smartphones and TVs and cars and entertainment and health systems etc pp, they don't just want nutrition. To provide that, we still need a lot of stuff that isn't automated (yet). I'm not talking about distribution of profits, I'm talking about raw output.
- viklove 6y agoThis is just not true, the vast majority of people are not manufacturing smartphones, they're just pushing papers (selling you insurance you don't need, signing you up for a loan you don't need, selling you your 6th pair of shoes, etc.). We could easily sustain our livelihood with much less work, but that would free up too many minds to start wondering why we reward a tiny fraction of our population with the vast majority of the wealth we generate as a society. The boot stays on our throats because the billionaire class benefits from keeping us chained to our desks.
- luckylion 6y ago> We could easily sustain our livelihood with much less work Sure. But not everyone wants the same, and central planning has proven that it's even more inefficient and wasteful than the capitalist free market system with its insane shoe-storage-system-stores and shoe-storage-systems-insurance-salespeople.
- viklove 6y agoNo on is suggesting central planning, my friend. It's funny how proponents of capitalism always jump to erect this straw-man when any criticisms come up.