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Jobs are an invention of humanity. About 50% of people dislike their job. People spend much of their lives working. Poverty and inequality are a choice made by
by chriskanan 5mo ago
Jobs are an invention of humanity. About 50% of people dislike their job. People spend much of their lives working. Poverty and inequality are a choice made by society if society chooses poorly.
- achierius 5mo agoAnd when have we not? When in history has mankind ever treated the idle poor well? What makes this age different, that we who can no longer work would be taken care of?
- robbrown451 5mo agoWhen in history has being idle not been a problem? If AI and robots are able to do all the jobs, being idle isn't the negative it has always been. All through history, you needed lots of non-idle people to do all the work that needed to be done. This is a new situation we are coming upon.
- xantronix 5mo agoIf they are doing all the jobs, who is going to receive economic opportunities? Will we no longer be able to participate in the economy?
- skeledrew 5mo agoIn what way do you want to participate when there's no economic value in any of it? Just do whatever you want for yourself; you're free.
- justonepost2 5mo agoThe freedom you’re describing is the freedom of a domesticated animal, by the way. With the same outcome if you become a nuisance
- skeledrew 5mo agoWell we're animals and "domesticated" is synonymous with "civilized", so no problem there. And I can't see why anyone would make themselves a "nuisance" when literally all their needs - and most of their desires - are being met, so whatever outcome you're referring to is extremely unlikely.
- gmerc 5mo agoWhen in history of mankind have we ever… is an appeal to the inability of humans to evolve.
- gbanfalvi 5mo agoNot sure it’s much of a choice and more of a decision the greedy half make and imposition (often violent) on the other half.
- jinwoo68 5mo agoMany (most?) people make a living from their job whether they like it or not. Having a job that they dislike is far better than losing one because of AI whatever that means.
- p1esk 5mo agoUnless AI will allow people not work and keep their quality of life. Could be possible with total automation of everything.
- jinwoo68 5mo agoNope. If everything is totally automated, if ever, the gap between the rich and the poor will widen even more. Most people will live in misery while only a handful of people enjoy all the automation.
- shafyy 5mo agoCould also be possible today, but we chose a capitalistic system that leads to an increasing wealth gap. And now we're in a situation where the richest 1% own 50% of the wealth. So, if we increase automation and the ownership structures stay the same, this inequality will get worse, not better.
- p1esk 5mo agoIt’s interesting, people talk about inequality and I definitely feel it myself – I see so many rich people around me. But I am in that 1%, just like many on this forum. At least according to https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-individual-income-percentiles/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-individual-income-perce... yet I still have to work for a living.
- shafyy 5mo agoYou might be in the 1% gloablly, but probably not in the country you are living in?
- taneq 5mo agoThe only thing invented about jobs is that through cooperation, the activity undertaken can seem completely unrelated to obtaining food, shelter etc. All organisms spend a majority of their energy on survival and reproduction.
- justonepost2 5mo agoSounds great! Quit your job then :)
- llbbdd 5mo agoThey're only an invention if you consider "seeking sustenance to live" not explicitly a job if there's no monthly direct deposit involved.
- ben_w 5mo agoIndeed. On the plus side, if there really is no value to labour, then farm work must have been fully automated along with all the other roles. On the down side, rich elites have historically had a very hard time truly empathising with normal people and understanding their needs even when they care to attempt it, so it is very possible that a lot of people will starve in such a scenario despite the potential abundance of food.
- skeledrew 5mo agoIt's either: 1) the rich voluntarily share the means of production so everyone becomes equal, 2) the poor stage successful revolutions so they gain access to the means of production and everyone becomes equal, 3) the poor starve or are otherwise eliminated, and the survivors will be equal. All roads lead to equality when the value of labour becomes 0 due to 100% automation.
- theopsimist 5mo agoIf truly 100% automation (including infantry/police) the most likely scenario is not any if the above; most people will be kept on some kind of minimum sustenance enough to keep them from rebelling (“UBI”) and those who disagree will either be coopted into the elite or eliminated.
- skeledrew 5mo agoThere's no reason to keep anyone on minimal sustenance though. They're absolutely useless alive from an economics perspective, and so would probably be better served ground up into fertilizer or some other actually useful form.
- matthest 5mo agoEvery biological being works to survive. Being good at survival is what builds self esteem. The "problem" with many modern jobs is that they're divorced from the fundamental goal, which is one of: 1) Kill/acquire food, 2) Build shelter, or 3) Kill enemies/competitors/predators The benefit of modern jobs is that they are much more peaceful ways for society to operate, freeing up time for humans to pursue art and other forms of expression.
- daymanstep 5mo agoYou mean surrogate activities
- thrance 5mo agoI don't know how intentional it is, but your comment is basically a dumbed down version of what Marx had to say about work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation
- matthest 5mo agoMarx was half right about it. What he got wrong was that this alienation results from capitalism. It actually results from civilization. The people who built the pyramids across every continent, for example, performed assembly line-like work. Any large-scale project requires it. And large-scale projects are fundamentally necessary for most societies. Capitalism was invented in the late 1700s.
- thrance 5mo agoFor the pyramids specifically: their architects and builders were skilled artisans who got to own their craft from top to bottom. As such, they were well-paid and pretty respected. Very much not alienated, under Marx's definition. I don't think Marx said that worker alienation was specific to capitalism, rather, his work was in describing the economic system of his time, and what that would entail for people living in it. > It actually results from civilization. I disagree, I can't think of anyone in Medieval Europe as alienated from their work as a modern sweatshop worker. Not that serfs had it better, but you get me.
- catlifeonmars 5mo agoI wish I lived in a vacuum. Idk about you but I did not make said choice.
- fatata123 5mo ago[dead]
- eecc 5mo agoSo are mortgages, and I’m starting to wonder how will pay mine. Please note I’ve never had this problem before, until recently.
- 3fsd 5mo ago[dead]