

Robotic Nation - jmtame
http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm

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devicenull
I've often wondered when we were going to see automated kisoks for ordering
food. Apparently, very soon.

Now if only we could improve these a bit. For example, give everyone a RFID
"membership card". When you approach the machine, it greets you and displays
your favorite foods at that place, or configures the kisok to how you like it.

It seems like if I scan my membership card at one of the current automated
checkouts, it should recognize the fact that I've shut the voice prompts off
every time, and do it automatically.

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scrod
The short of it: in a fully automated society, it is simply infeasible to have
100% (or even 50%, with most jobs moving into the service sector) employment.

Thus he proposes a $25,000/yr/person stipend funded from a combination of
sources, including high marginal rates on new tax brackets for multi-million-
dollar corporate salaries, various sales taxes, and the full reallocation of
social spending in almost all other areas.

The result would be a complete elimination of poverty, the stigma of welfare,
wage slavery, and the social security solvency problem, leading to a
"supercharging" of capitalism via massive increases in consumption and
ultimately "true economic freedom".

I find this proposal very appealing, yet lacking in other core respects; e.g.,
those countries and entities with the greatest access to natural resources
will continue to be the root sources of growth, and as money is simply a tool
for distributing wealth, it inevitably adapts to reflect the availability of
wealth. Maybe he's also assuming energy from pervasive nuclear fusion?

I was waiting for him to mention gift economies, but he seems to love the
profit system too much to accept its fundamental infeasibility in the long
term.

~~~
gravitycop
_I was waiting for him to mention gift economies_

Isn't Brain's "Australia" basically a gift economy?
<http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna6.htm>

_In Australia, these people could completely fulfill themselves, and humanity
would be much better off because of their contributions. Creative people want
to -- need to -- create. That is their passion. Instead of millions of
talented people working in jobs that had nothing to do with their dreams,
simply to make ends meet, in Australia they could follow their dreams.

The goal in Australia is to encourage and nurture creativity and innovation.
[...] It meant an amazing level of creativity and innovation in every product
category -- food, housing, architecture, vacation resorts, restaurants,
furniture. Whether it was basic research or final consumer products,
innovation was everywhere. The innovators had the ability to take their
research/inventions/ideas as far as they could._

