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I've noticed the people who say things like "we can't just give people money because they need the meaning and dignity of work" already have plenty of money and

I've noticed the people who say things like "we can't just give people money because they need the meaning and dignity of work" already have plenty of money and a high-status office job.

aogaili 6y ago
Precisely, because what they fear is loss of control over those underneath them and not the loss of meaning. As it stands in today politic/economical systems (specially in the west) have an inherit artificial scarcity by design to allow a form of soft behavioural control/governance. You do X, we will fine/pay you Y amount. And this will only work if the Y amount is impactful enough for the individual. I think this could be replaced by some other from of social point system, while providing the necessities of life to ensure dignified living when income is lost. Because as it stand today, individual existence and any dignified livelihood is very fragile and highly dependant on a single source of income. You work at Amazon warehouse to pay your rent/bills, Amazon starts using Stretch the robot and you are left in a very weak and vulnerable position, at the mercy of the upper management, wondering when they might let you go because, thanks to Stretch the robot, you are redundant now. This has to be fixed sooner or later, because it just broken and getting worst by the day really fast. The issue here is that the erosion of jobs is happening from outside and inside. Due to covid, many consumers started purchasing online which is dominated by few mega players (Amazon), so many local retails, restaurants are losing job. And at the same time, those mega companies are investing heavily to gain efficiency as they try to meet the demand and increase their margins, so they are adding more automation. The way I see it, this is a race to the bottom, and a lot of workers and families will get hurt if this trend continues without some major economical and social solutions.

I've noticed the people who say things like "we can't just give people money because they need the meaning and dignity of work" already have plenty of money and a high-status office job.

aogaili 6y ago

Precisely, because what they fear is loss of control over those underneath them and not the loss of meaning. As it stands in today politic/economical systems (specially in the west) have an inherit artificial scarcity by design to allow a form of soft behavioural control/governance. You do X, we will fine/pay you Y amount. And this will only work if the Y amount is impactful enough for the individual. I think this could be replaced by some other from of social point system, while providing the necessities of life to ensure dignified living when income is lost. Because as it stand today, individual existence and any dignified livelihood is very fragile and highly dependant on a single source of income. You work at Amazon warehouse to pay your rent/bills, Amazon starts using Stretch the robot and you are left in a very weak and vulnerable position, at the mercy of the upper management, wondering when they might let you go because, thanks to Stretch the robot, you are redundant now. This has to be fixed sooner or later, because it just broken and getting worst by the day really fast. The issue here is that the erosion of jobs is happening from outside and inside. Due to covid, many consumers started purchasing online which is dominated by few mega players (Amazon), so many local retails, restaurants are losing job. And at the same time, those mega companies are investing heavily to gain efficiency as they try to meet the demand and increase their margins, so they are adding more automation. The way I see it, this is a race to the bottom, and a lot of workers and families will get hurt if this trend continues without some major economical and social solutions.