(June 26, 2014 at 2:43 am)JuliaL Wrote: Unfortunately, existing societies developed and still live with some attitudes which previously had value but have outlived much of their usefulness. Among these is, "If you don't work, you don't eat."
Machines have absorbed not only the jobs of the unskilled manual laborers like ditch diggers and farmers. They have taken those of the skilled such as machinists, production engineers, clerks, typists and secretaries. Long before singularity, I expect creative and intellectual tasks to be taken as well.
This leaves few options for individuals other than starvation. One is bureaucracy where an unlimited number of make-work paper pushing jobs can be created in government or finance. Another option is to become one of the very few masters of the system. The one percenters who climb to the top of the pile of their fellow humans by becoming masters of the system. The owners of Starbucks rather than the rest of us who just work there.
We could get lucky and experience a substantial loss of technological civilization via climate change or ecological collapse. Then we'd be back to total employment grubbing out enough food to avoid starving before spring.
[/sarcasm]
I am retired from an engineering career in automation taking away those jobs and giving them to machines. No need to offshore them. The machines work cheaper than the Chinese. Don't be too mad at me. I needed the work.
I noticed this trend too and it has greatly shifted my views. 20 years ago I would have told you people on welfare should be bused out to the fields and made to pick onions for their welfare check. Now I advocate a universal basic income. We have so much production capacity in society that not everyone has to work. If someone wants to stay home all day and smoke pot on the government dole...I'm actually okay with it(provided the government isn't borrowing money to do it).
Also I don't think it is all social attitudes. Many humans just have a need to do something. I wondered if say if Apple kept the income of it employees the same....but shortened their work week from 5 days to 3(by reducing their hours)....how many of those employees would look for a second job? I bet quite a few would....to make use of the extra time on their hands.
