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"Asimov imagined that humanity would decide to distribute the wealth accrued by the automatons" - why would one think that this will ever happen?

mullingitover 13y ago
A man like Asimov probably assumed that earthlings would develop a greater sense of community as civilization progressed. Also, in 1964 the US was a lot more liberal; LBJ and a massive democratic landslide had just taken control of the government and were on the verge of rolling out the Great Society programs. War on poverty, civil rights, social welfare programs, consumer protections, etc. He had no way of knowing that ongoing class struggle would push us back into this vast inequality, and rationalizations for it, that we're currently accustomed to.
- TDL 13y ago
  And the Vietnam war, escalation of the draft, escalation of the war on drugs... Those liberals way back when weren't as wonderful as many would like to believe.
  - mullingitover 13y ago
    The point remains, it was a more optimistic time. It was only three years after the first people had been launched into space, and it seemed that the sky was no longer the limit. Asimov had no way of knowing that so much of our potential would be wasted on killing each other instead of on building the future he envisioned.
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- jedmeyers 13y ago
  Well, it turned out that the only people wanting to distribute wealth are the ones who were not creating it. By the way, for some reason, neither Asimov nor his estate released his works to the public domain for the greater good.
ljf 13y ago
Keynes and other economists had similar thoughts, they thought we'd be working fewer hours in the future, as the benefits of automation would be distributed amongst all the workers.
coldtea 13y ago
Because at that point the whole world was believing much more in egalitarianism. USSR and all its satelite countries for sure (however hypocritially for those at the top), but also the US, who had a booming labor movement, increased work rights and salaries for decades since the "new deal", etc. But even the most hardcore believers in capitalism thought that automatons (industrial robots and such) will bring a society of less work and increased leisure -- for the same kind of salaries or purchasing power as before. If you watch Star Trek for example, it's like some kind of egalitarian future world. Same as what's happening in a lot of science fiction books, Asimov's included.
hrkristian 13y ago
We're a far way away from seeing what digitization and automation will eventually bring. The Arab Spring would not have been possible if not for social media and the internet in general. It is a perfect example of machines helping the commoner. What then happens, when machines and software become powerful enough to automate even the more complex aspects of society? It's not a matter of if, but when. We have to actually allow it to happen, but so far there has yet to be a society who hinders progress without crumbling in on itself. Are we to be so naive as to think we'll be the exception to the rule?

mullingitover 13y ago

A man like Asimov probably assumed that earthlings would develop a greater sense of community as civilization progressed. Also, in 1964 the US was a lot more liberal; LBJ and a massive democratic landslide had just taken control of the government and were on the verge of rolling out the Great Society programs. War on poverty, civil rights, social welfare programs, consumer protections, etc. He had no way of knowing that ongoing class struggle would push us back into this vast inequality, and rationalizations for it, that we're currently accustomed to.

TDL 13y ago
And the Vietnam war, escalation of the draft, escalation of the war on drugs... Those liberals way back when weren't as wonderful as many would like to believe.
- mullingitover 13y ago
  The point remains, it was a more optimistic time. It was only three years after the first people had been launched into space, and it seemed that the sky was no longer the limit. Asimov had no way of knowing that so much of our potential would be wasted on killing each other instead of on building the future he envisioned.
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jedmeyers 13y ago
Well, it turned out that the only people wanting to distribute wealth are the ones who were not creating it. By the way, for some reason, neither Asimov nor his estate released his works to the public domain for the greater good.

ljf 13y ago

Keynes and other economists had similar thoughts, they thought we'd be working fewer hours in the future, as the benefits of automation would be distributed amongst all the workers.

coldtea 13y ago

Because at that point the whole world was believing much more in egalitarianism. USSR and all its satelite countries for sure (however hypocritially for those at the top), but also the US, who had a booming labor movement, increased work rights and salaries for decades since the "new deal", etc. But even the most hardcore believers in capitalism thought that automatons (industrial robots and such) will bring a society of less work and increased leisure -- for the same kind of salaries or purchasing power as before. If you watch Star Trek for example, it's like some kind of egalitarian future world. Same as what's happening in a lot of science fiction books, Asimov's included.

hrkristian 13y ago

We're a far way away from seeing what digitization and automation will eventually bring. The Arab Spring would not have been possible if not for social media and the internet in general. It is a perfect example of machines helping the commoner. What then happens, when machines and software become powerful enough to automate even the more complex aspects of society? It's not a matter of if, but when. We have to actually allow it to happen, but so far there has yet to be a society who hinders progress without crumbling in on itself. Are we to be so naive as to think we'll be the exception to the rule?