3 ms·
All repetitive labor will eventually be automated. It is only a matter of time. The problem with capitalism and tech is that the efficiency gains realized thro
by kyllo 14y ago
All repetitive labor will eventually be automated. It is only a matter of time.
The problem with capitalism and tech is that the efficiency gains realized through automation nearly all go to the owners of the firms. The human laborers replaced by programs and robots are just S.O.L. Capitalism only works for a society as long as capital owners need human labor to carry out production.
"The only solution I can see being viable is further socialization (in the US) of things like medical care, transportation, etc. in order to ensure that just because you don't have a high salary, doesn't mean you can't have a high quality of life. Either that or accept that the US is devolving into a 3rd world country."
Yes. Either we implement basic income and universal healthcare, and improve access to public services, or we will end up with a tiny, but very wealthy "owner" class, and a very large, unemployed, impoverished majority.
Better to do it soon, while it's still a choice, rather than later, when it isn't. History has shown that the masses will only put up with so much inequality before they openly revolt.
An opposing force to this, though, is that increased automation will continue to reduce costs and barriers to entry, allowing people with almost no resources to start some form of income-generating online "lifestyle business." A lot of people are doing this now, but not nearly enough people are capable of it, for it to be a sustainable career option for almost the entire American middle class. Yet.
- greghinch 14y agoThe lifestyle business prospect is interesting, as mentioned in that Forbes article that hit the front page[1], there is the possibility for many to start making a steady living in the sharing economy. I'm involved with a business working in the arena, and the possibilities are intriguing. Whether or not it becomes a sustainable economy for the longer term is still pretty up in the air [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/01/23/airbnb-and-the-unstoppable-rise-of-the-share-economy/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2013/01/23/airbnb-and...
- kyllo 14y agoI read that article too. The possibilites are interesting but i dont think sharing your stuff for cash will be a sustainable career option for most, especially if the cost of that stuff keeps going down. Another possibility is that inequality and exponential growth in CEO compensation are due to the fact that most companies are not free marketplaces internally. They are run like little communist dictatorships where compensation is allocated by social/political rank, not by value created. If companies had to pay people according to the actual marginal value of their work, perhaps the inequality wouldn't get quite so severe. But human workers would still have to gradually retrain themselves to perform non-automatable tasks en masse, and the transition period is still going to be painful. That part seems unavoidable.