4 ms·
Feudalism without the serfs. What is in it for the plebs? The idea that concentrated wealth is great for everyone and will trickle down has been pretty much de
by spicymaki 4y ago
Feudalism without the serfs. What is in it for the plebs?
The idea that concentrated wealth is great for everyone and will trickle down has been pretty much debunked to the point where the wealthy are openly stating we don't need the masses anymore.
The crypto dystopian nightmare of generating money with zero utility backed by quantitative easing demonstrates that you don't actually need many employees to generate wealth. You don't even need commerce, financial engineering will suffice.
Employment is a social contract. Business owners and investors (who control capital) are supposed to provide a means for the masses to live in comfort, the employees give there labor and time in return. The wealthy get to live in their mansions, vacation on their yachts, etc. We get to buy our homes in the suburbs, raise our families, etc.
What happens when no one works and humans are removed from the value chain?
- jmagoon 4y agoMassive social upheaval that the super wealthy think they are immune from, even when they are directly responsible for its creation.
- cal85 4y ago> The idea that concentrated wealth is great for everyone and will trickle down has been pretty much debunked Can you point to an example of someone claiming that concentrated wealth is great for everyone and will trickle down?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- skinnymuch 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics There’s lots of people saying it and have said it. We just had tax cuts for the wealthy recently.
- jahewson 4y agoLiz Truss, who brought in tax cuts for the highest earners based on this idea, and as a result lasted only 45 days as prime minister of the U.K. See also: Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Regan.
- ryandrake 4y agoIt can be helpful to think of the USA as a giant factory that produces billionaires. Dollars and workers go into the factory as inputs, billionaires (and defects, millionaires) come out on the assembly line, and the system's waste product that gets discarded is the lives and livelihoods of working and middle-class people. So the system is working and producing what it is supposed to produce.
- danenania 4y agoThere is also the small matter of the goods and services produced that improve standards of living for everyone in the US and the world.
- TapWaterBandit 4y agoThis is one of the dumber takes I've ever seen on hacker news. Completely blinded by envy. Where do you think all this stuff comes from exactly (or how is it paid for): - the food in your pantry - the stuff in your home - the vehicles/PT you use to get around in - the devices you use - the content you watch/play - the utilities you use to power it all/get water - the services like banking you use - the clothes you wear - all the other forms of infrastructure like medical care/policing/fire brigades
- stackbutterflow 4y agoWhat happens when the mass is struggling and has a lot of free time because everything has been automated? The billionaires seem to not have planned more than one step ahead.
- jaredandrews 4y agoOh they are planning... https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prep...
- danenania 4y agoThat's where basic income comes in, hopefully. That said, it is no by no means a certainty that increased automation will reduce the overall number of jobs or rate of employment. It has never done so in the past.
- onemoresoop 4y ago> What happens when no one works and humans are removed from the value chain? pitchforks?
- type-r 4y agoi don't think anyone is claiming it's going to trickle down