The jobless, hopeless future.

[Goonie]

Inside Ocado's burning robotic warehouse
With companies aiming to remove humans from the workplace, in some cases in there entirety. How do we cope with the starving millions? since the chance of governments providing for them is zero, as the right pushes for zero benefits, govt support, and the collapse of the tax base ensures zero funds to support the mass permanent jobless.

 

[Nithavela]

Inside Ocado's burning robotic warehouse
With companies aiming to remove humans from the workplace, in some cases in there entirety. How do we cope with the starving millions? since the chance of governments providing for them is zero, as the right pushes for zero benefits, govt support, and the collapse of the tax base ensures zero funds to support the mass permanent jobless.

 

[zephcom]

Inside Ocado's burning robotic warehouse
With companies aiming to remove humans from the workplace, in some cases in there entirety. How do we cope with the starving millions? since the chance of governments providing for them is zero, as the right pushes for zero benefits, govt support, and the collapse of the tax base ensures zero funds to support the mass permanent jobless.

The only solution which appears to be feasible that I've heard is the minimum guaranteed income. It requires government to make it happen.

Instead of government giving free money to the wealthy, it gives money to all the people equally. Those who want more money will find a job somewhere. The rest will have enough to live a comfortable but not wealthy lifestyle.

Think of it as lifetime retirement.

 

[dgiharris]

CLIFFNOTES:
It might actually be possible to live in an Age-Of-Plenty where machines do most of the work and all of humanity benefits

IMHO, the big problem we have world wide is that Capitalism, true Capitalism is being repressed.

The enemy and opposite of Capitalism isn't Socialism as the Right would have you believe. The enemy/opposite of Capitalism are "The Powers that Be" TPTB restricting our natural development trying to force and or keep the Status Quo so that the money keeps rolling in like it has always been rolling in...

For instance,
The Powers That Be --TPTB-- have prevented our natural progression into Space.
TPTB have retarded our progression into renewable energy
TPTB have retarded our progression with electric cars
TPTB believe that the "other" side of the political isle is the enemy and must be stopped at all costs

We are trying to force a square peg into a round hole with so many aspects of our society and economy. We are trying to hold on to Industrial Age paradigms and mentalities instead of fully embracing the Information Age and exploring new paradigms and mentalities...

Ok... the above is all nice theoretical ramblings, what exactly do I mean and what exactly should we be doing???

Well, we should have honest debate and discourse about various economic models. For instance, what if we do have the technology to live in an age of plenty?

Imagine that robots are capable of meeting 90% of all of our labor, agricultural, and construction needs. Imagine if the current GDP of the entire world could be realized and achieved with 10% of humans working while robots did the remaining 90% of the work...

Would this necessarily be a bad thing? Would this necessarily equate to a global depression, mass poverty, famine, homelessness, and wealth accumulation that far exceeds what we have today? Or... could this be the dawn of a new era where homelessness, poverty, and famine are eliminated and we have a Socialistic society in which the average quality of life far exceeds what we have today???

Could we have a Socialistic / Capitalistic hybrid economic model in which you are free to be a complete sloth and settle for an average government provided quality of life or you could be a hard working entrepreneur type and still accumulate a fair amount of wealth that exceeds the average quality of life??

I submit that it is possible to have our cake and eat it too!!!
"If" we reach the point where robots / technology can free up a significant percentage of human labor then that is not necessarily a bad thing. We would just need to change our society/economic model to align with that new reality. ANd if done correctly, it could actually help lead to a Golden Age of Plenty.

 

[Nithavela]

My personal vision is a 4 class society.

There will be the wealthy owners of the means of production, the ones who service and develop the robots and a large security army to protect the first two groups against the fourth, the unwashed masses languishing in immense ghettos.

 

[LaSorcia]

We can always follow the example of the Luddites.

 

[New Birth]

My personal vision is a 4 class society.

There will be the wealthy owners of the means of production, the ones who service and develop the robots and a large security army to protect the first two groups against the fourth, the unwashed masses languishing in immense ghettos.

Robots will not take over the world guys, get off the couch take off the tin foil hats and go start a business.

 

[Nithavela]

Robots will not take over the world guys, get off the couch take off the tin foil hats and go start a business.

And what does that have to do with the post you just quoted?

 

[Goonie]

Robots will not take over the world guys, get off the couch take off the tin foil hats and go start a business.

With whole areas of business from warehousing to logistics looking to remove people from the workforce one is not talking about a conspiracy theory but reality. From self driving vehicles, robots, ai driven call centres, automated legal and medical advice, computerised accounting whole swaiths of business is getting ready to divest itself of the human workforce.

 

[New Birth]

And what does that have to do with the post you just quoted?

maybe i missed it, isnt the thread about humans being replaced with robots.

 

[Roidecoeur78]

Robots will not take over the world guys, get off the couch take off the tin foil hats and go start a business.

I hope you are wrong in this completely rational and likely prediction, for the world is a tedious and wicked business to be associated with. It would be nice to foist it upon robots.

 

[Nithavela]

maybe i missed it, isnt the thread about humans being replace with robots.

Humans are already being replaced by robots. The factories where humans do nothing but service the robots, put in the raw materials and cart away the finished product is already there.

 

[dgiharris]

My personal vision is a 4 class society.

There will be the wealthy owners of the means of production, the ones who service and develop the robots and a large security army to protect the first two groups against the fourth, the unwashed masses languishing in immense ghettos.

This is actually a highly probable potential outcome opposite of my "Age-of-Plenty" possible outcome.

Sadly, I fear your scenario will be much more likely.

I'd also add one more class to your 4 class society making it a 5 class society
The extra class would be humans doing jobs that robots still can't do as well as people and/or jobs that the wealthy use humans for instead of robots as a symbol/projection of their status and wealth.

 

[Nithavela]

This is actually a highly probable potential outcome opposite of my "Age-of-Plenty" possible outcome.

Sadly, I fear your scenario will be much more likely.

I'd also add one more class to your 4 class society making it a 5 class society
The extra class would be humans doing jobs that robots still can't do as well as people and/or jobs that the wealthy use humans for instead of robots as a symbol/projection of their status and wealth.

They could propably be lumped into the second class.

 

[Pethesedzao]

Inside Ocado's burning robotic warehouse
With companies aiming to remove humans from the workplace, in some cases in there entirety. How do we cope with the starving millions? since the chance of governments providing for them is zero, as the right pushes for zero benefits, govt support, and the collapse of the tax base ensures zero funds to support the mass permanent jobless.

Jesus Christ is coming back

 

[Goonie]

Jesus Christ is coming back

So people have said every year since those who wrote the gospels said he'd be returning in the first generations lifetime. Been wrong every year.

 

[bekkilyn]

I got "admonished" at a family gathering a while back when we were all having a discussion about the self-checkout at stores. After mentioning that I liked using them, I was told that they were taking away people's jobs and so they refused to use them for that reason.

 

[bèlla]

Robots will not take over the world guys, get off the couch take off the tin foil hats and go start a business.

I made my exit years ago in my thirties and my daughter will leave the workforce at 29. There are many opportunities in the digital age for entrepreneurship. But many will miss the boat. It takes a lot of work and sacrifice. And why bother when you can have a blast on social media instead. ;-)

 

[Roidecoeur78]

I got "admonished" at a family gathering a while back when we were all having a discussion about the self-checkout at stores. After mentioning that I liked using them, I was told that they were taking away people's jobs and so they refused to use them for that reason.

Yes, why wouldn't it be preferable to use the self-checkout terminals? It's just less awkward than dealing with someone that, more often than not, resents having to have their position of wage-slavery to begin with. Plus, the whole American "cultural" phenomenon of being customer serviced to death insincerely can be somewhat avoided here and there. Sure, from the perspective of the company it's just heartless economy that makes "business sense", but from that of many people it mitigates a chore.

 

[Goonie]

Yes, why wouldn't it be preferable to use the self-checkout terminals? It's just less awkward than dealing with someone that, more often than not, resents having to have their position of wage-slavery to begin with. Plus, the whole American "cultural" phenomenon of being customer serviced to death insincerely can be somewhat avoided here and there. Sure, from the perspective of the company it's just heartless economy that makes "business sense", but from that of many people it mitigates a chore.

People are conveniencing themselves out of a job.