Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
Player Piano is Kurt Vonnegut's first novel. It's set in a world where everything is automated to the point that jobs are practically non-existant…the kind of world that is more and more possible every day.
What are the possible repercussions of this kind of transformation? Vonnegut was not sanguine about the possibilities. It was the ultimate welfare state, and Player Piano did not end happily.
The repercussions of full automation is something that needs consideration now because it truly looks like the direction we're headed in. I'll be dead before it's done but my daughter and potential grandchildren will not, so it's something I'd rather see done properly. Robotic Freedom is an entry point to the first detailed examination of the possibilities and possible alternatives I've seen.
Here's the summary of the case it makes:
Even if the economy reconfigures and creates new jobs for everyone, there will be significant flux and turmoil as 50% of the working population retrains and moves to new careers. In addition, our current economic system is concentrating wealth at an accelerating rate. Robots will increase the concentration problem. The concentration creates a number of dysfunctional areas in our economy that hurt us as a society.
One solution is to change the economy in the following way -- We simply give everyone a check for $25,000 per year. It initially sounds impractical -- read the article to find out why this proposal would work and how it would solve a wide range of problems in the robotic economy.
this is nearly exactly what I was musing over a few nights ago. This may be the very Vonnegut novel I was thinking about but couldn't remember the title of. As the country becomes increasingly mechanized, and we keep shedding jobs-- good working class jobs-- I just can't imagine that where we might be heading is going to be a good thing. Of course, we always assume that technology will rescue us, and leave us with a better world tomorrow. I guess that's just the nature of American optimism. But I hope we're not embracing optimism like a religion, a blind faith in something better. We need to roll up our sleeves and work to get there.
Wow, is this a labour day theme or what? I was just reading Robotic Freedom I found via the MetaFilter.