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This guy sounds like a sociopath, and his characterization that massive unemployment is ultimately "a good thing" is mystifying. Even in a hypothetical post-sc

This guy sounds like a sociopath, and his characterization that massive unemployment is ultimately "a good thing" is mystifying. Even in a hypothetical post-scarcity world, there are things to do, and objectives to pursue. The question is just whether your survival and well-being are dependent on your pursuits. Transitioning the world to a place where one's job is not a major part of one's identity would be a massive, and probably misguided effort. Also, it's also pretty clear that this guy doesn't understand the graph he has posted here: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/26/america-has-hit-peak-jobs/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/26/america-has-hit-peak-jobs/ That's a static snapshot. It's not like there is a fixed group that is always in the top 2%. In fact, one would hope in a meritocracy, there is a healthy flow in and out of the 2% that keeps people striving and attempting new things. A world where there's a permanent fixed elite is a world of stagnation.

eric_bullington 14y ago
If you're referring the the US (that's the subject of the article in question), then recent studies suggest that there may not be a health flow in and out of the 2% [0, 1]. In fact, there seems to be significantly less social mobility in the US then in other developed countries, such as those in Europe. 0. http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf 1. http://www.pewstates.org/projects/economic-mobility-project-328061 http://www.pewstates.org/projects/economic-mobility-project-...
- bearmf 14y ago
  If you look at the data in article [0] carefully, it becomes clear that the problem in US is not movement in/out of the highest quintile, but movement in/out of the lowest quintile. Middle quintiles to highest quintile and vice versa mobility in US looks similar to other countries. Btw, they do not have much data for US or UK, only around 2000 parent-offspring pairs. And the conclusion that UK is on the same mobility level as Nordic countries is highly doubtful. UK mobility level is usually considered to be about the same as US mobility level.

eric_bullington 14y ago

If you're referring the the US (that's the subject of the article in question), then recent studies suggest that there may not be a health flow in and out of the 2% [0, 1]. In fact, there seems to be significantly less social mobility in the US then in other developed countries, such as those in Europe. 0. http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf http://ftp.iza.org/dp1938.pdf 1. http://www.pewstates.org/projects/economic-mobility-project-328061 http://www.pewstates.org/projects/economic-mobility-project-...

bearmf 14y ago
If you look at the data in article [0] carefully, it becomes clear that the problem in US is not movement in/out of the highest quintile, but movement in/out of the lowest quintile. Middle quintiles to highest quintile and vice versa mobility in US looks similar to other countries. Btw, they do not have much data for US or UK, only around 2000 parent-offspring pairs. And the conclusion that UK is on the same mobility level as Nordic countries is highly doubtful. UK mobility level is usually considered to be about the same as US mobility level.