

What If Everybody Didn't Have to Work to Get Paid? - Audiophilip
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/what-if-everybody-didnt-have-to-work-to-get-paid/393428/?single_page=true

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bikamonki
This cause is based on the wrong assumption: products and services are NOT
getting more expensive (aside from health care and housing but I predict those
too will become more affordable thanks to bots). And it is precisely b/c of
automation that prices go down (the fact that you pay hundreds for an iPhone
that costs tens to make has more to do with you being a victim of marketing
and less to do with robots making the phone). Also, b/c many products and
services that we now consume are digital (zero real cost of 'making' a copy)
we need less money each month to consume them. Also, not to be surprised: good
healthy home cooked meals are über cheap. And don't ignore this trend: the
sharing economy. In sum: as everything commoditizes and we share products and
services, we need less money to live. Maybe then what we need is to share jobs
(work partime) and control personal expenses, until we reach Jacque Fresco's
Resource Based Economy (google The Venus Project, b/c guess what, searching,
finding and learning new information is nowadays almost always free!).

So pleeeease don't ask for a free basic income, I certainly don't want to pay
more taxes ;)

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JoeAltmaier
I was surprised at that conclusion. The rise of robots creating goods means we
will be forced into a basic income at some point. Or let jobless people starve
I guess.

And its not at all assured that you will have to pay more taxes. The basic
income could come from any number of places, like corporate automation tariffs
(let the robots pay for it!) or even printing more money.

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bikamonki
That is a very 'utopian' view. Changes are gradual. Even if we do invent
perfect bots to manufacture and provide services, the capital expenses to
acquire them will be huge, tons of business will take decades to adopt them.
Until then good old human labor will do. Have you seen a travel agency lately?
Is milk delievered to your door step? Jobs disappear, new jobs are invented.
We are ever getting more specialized. What will happen is less dramatic and it
is something we have always done in the past: we will adapt, gradually.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Ever more specialized == fewer and fewer people needed to work at all. New
jobs are invented at the rate of 1 for 10; 9 people are out of work. The
Pollyanna view that jobs will appear by magic, in exactly the right number for
the population, is a 'utopian' view.

