I can see a shining future where all shit jobs are automated, and where so much productivity is gained from automation, that a large majority of the population won't need to work to enjoy a comfortable standard of living.
But I can't clearly see a way to get to there from here. We need to find a way to tax automated productivity as well as labour. We need to find a way to reverse the wealth concentration trend.
But we can try to build this world in the ways we know how, we can automate more and more and more and try to steer the future in the direction we wan't, because the alternative, some weird sort of labour preservation is clearly wrong.
> But I can't clearly see a way to get to there from here. We need to find a way to tax automated productivity as well as labour.
That's not hard (well, except in terms of the political challenge due to its impact on the already politically powerful.) Just tax capital income the same as labor, rather than treating it preferentially.
The political challenge is exactly why it is hard.
The biggest problem is that there are no political entities fighting for this future. Both the left and the right agree that low unemployment is the highest political goal, and the idea that only a job and a career gives social status is very firmly entrenched in our society.
And even if there were political entities fighting for it, the current moneyed elite is very much against a higher capital gains tax.
There are political entities fighting for this future. They aren't the dominant factions of either of the major political parties, yet, but in our system, issues that become successful often start out being pushed by smaller entities.
But I can't clearly see a way to get to there from here. We need to find a way to tax automated productivity as well as labour. We need to find a way to reverse the wealth concentration trend.
But we can try to build this world in the ways we know how, we can automate more and more and more and try to steer the future in the direction we wan't, because the alternative, some weird sort of labour preservation is clearly wrong.