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I'm wondering what the end state of our democratic capitalistic states will be...

• the_third_wave 5y ago
  That will very much depend on how the societies handle the loss of employment opportunities caused by increased automation. People need to have a purpose in life, a goal to work towards to. Just giving them a basic income and entertainment will not work, in such a 'Utopia' the populace will eventually break the machines just so that something interesting happens. Maybe a new frontier will be opened, e.g. artificial islands in the oceans which can be built and populated or a space colony, something to give those who seek a challenge a way to fulfil their wanderlust. Maybe war will intervene and make the question moot by giving those in search of purpose or adventure a ready-made answer. A quick perusal of history shows that new frontiers and wars seem to be the most common providers of purpose to those in search for it. In other words we better hope that someone like Musk will make good on the promise of a new frontier - we need one to have something to aim at other than at our neighbour.