3 ms·

I don't think socialism or a high salary is necessary to have a higher quality of life over the long term. As technology increases abundance, material goods wil

I don't think socialism or a high salary is necessary to have a higher quality of life over the long term. As technology increases abundance, material goods will become cheaper. This has been happening for thousands of years. The mean and median standard of living has been steadily increasing for a long time. I see no reason why it should be any different now. I think the real problem is only what to do over the short term with people that have trouble being useful in today's economy. Some socialism to solve that problem, I think, would be a good idea.

greghinch 14y ago
> I don't think socialism or a high salary is necessary to have a higher quality of life over the long term Agreed, though this really only applies to younger generations. A large portion of our currently unemployed are in the 40-60 year old bracket (aging population). It's unlikely a lot of these people are going to strike out into new careers. I'm sure some will, but it doesn't seem enough to make a difference. So we need to figure out how to care for them. And if we set up a social safety-net for everyone in the process, all the better. > As technology increases abundance, material goods will become cheaper. Possibly. Innovations like 3D printing are particularly interesting. As they become more sophisticated, predominately foreign manufacturing could come back home, albeit in the hands of "robots". Hopefully this would lower costs of goods, but the steady upward march of inflation leads me to think that's unlikely.
- rthomas6 14y ago
  Inflation is irrelevant over the long term. The real cost of goods after adjusting for inflation has gone down for the past few hundred years. It's of course a problem, but not because it will increase scarcity. As you mentioned, the real problem is the aging and obsolete workers in the short term.

greghinch 14y ago

> I don't think socialism or a high salary is necessary to have a higher quality of life over the long term Agreed, though this really only applies to younger generations. A large portion of our currently unemployed are in the 40-60 year old bracket (aging population). It's unlikely a lot of these people are going to strike out into new careers. I'm sure some will, but it doesn't seem enough to make a difference. So we need to figure out how to care for them. And if we set up a social safety-net for everyone in the process, all the better. > As technology increases abundance, material goods will become cheaper. Possibly. Innovations like 3D printing are particularly interesting. As they become more sophisticated, predominately foreign manufacturing could come back home, albeit in the hands of "robots". Hopefully this would lower costs of goods, but the steady upward march of inflation leads me to think that's unlikely.

rthomas6 14y ago
Inflation is irrelevant over the long term. The real cost of goods after adjusting for inflation has gone down for the past few hundred years. It's of course a problem, but not because it will increase scarcity. As you mentioned, the real problem is the aging and obsolete workers in the short term.