The answer to this is to stop regarding humans as worthless the instant they lose their jobs. This is the other side of the coin of venerating "hard-working Ame

The answer to this is to stop regarding humans as worthless the instant they lose their jobs. This is the other side of the coin of venerating "hard-working Americans" -- everyone who's currently down on their luck is the opposite: worthless, lazy, stupid, entitled. Those same people "asking for government handouts" were "hard working Americans" just recently, up until forces beyond their control caused their workplace to shut down. The economy is receiving enormous benefits from increased automation and AI and will only continue to do so super-linearly (if not exponentially) for the foreseeable future. We get to decide whether those benefits should go entirely to the people who already own everything, or whether some fraction of those benefits should go to everyone. If we can finally recognize that hundred-billionaires exist not by being a million times smarter and more productive than everyone else, but by riding the waves of a heavily interconnected and increasingly automated economy, maybe we'll finally accept heavy taxes on the beneficiaries of such automation that can be distributed as basic income. So that's the answer, or at least a huge step in the right direction: basic income. For everyone. Meanwhile, let's still shut down coal plants, shall we?