Wealth distribution

[PanzerJaeger]

Wealth distribution is just a symptom of modern productivity demands in industry that negate physical labor. The wealthy are getting wealthier now, but the constant growth demanded by the capital investment driving that wealth accumulation is unsustainable without growing real income levels and employment. Capitalism in its current form will have to be replaced, either by a much more enlightened or much more despotic economic model.

[Lemur]

Capitalism in its current form will have to be replaced, either by a much more enlightened or much more despotic economic model.

The key phrase being "in its current form."

Well-regulated markets are still the best vehicle for a whole host of goods and services. I imagine there will someday be a more efficient, more humane, less-prone-to-panics-and-bubbles system. No idea what it will be, but it will probably come from one of the bastard offspring of Google.

[PanzerJaeger]

The key phrase being "in its current form."

Well-regulated markets are still the best vehicle for a whole host of goods and services. I imagine there will someday be a more efficient, more humane, less-prone-to-panics-and-bubbles system. No idea what it will be, but it will probably come from one of the bastard offspring of Google.

I just don't know where the jobs will come from to keep the market viable. We can't all be software engineers and managers, not that those jobs are any more insulated from automation than any others. We are moving toward a future where most people will not work, at least in the way we think about work today. It's already well underway - corporate profits and thus stocks have skyrocketed since the depths of the recession while the labor force has steadily shrunk and a record 20% of households are on food stamps. The primary driver behind those profits has not been organic growth, but instead easy money and cost cutting - much of it the result of reduced payroll through automation. As stated earlier, this can be liberating or enslaving, depending on how we react and choose to structure our society going forward.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I just don't know where the jobs will come from to keep the market viable. We can't all be software engineers and managers, not that those jobs are any more insulated from automation than any others. We are moving toward a future where most people will not work, at least in the way we think about work today. It's already well underway - corporate profits and thus stocks have skyrocketed since the depths of the recession while the labor force has steadily shrunk and a record 20% of households are on food stamps. The primary driver behind those profits has not been organic growth, but instead easy money and cost cutting - much of it the result of reduced payroll through automation. As stated earlier, this can be liberating or enslaving, depending on how we react and choose to structure our society going forward.

My concern with the idea that there are no more jobs out there is that it may just be too soon to tell if that is the case. The decline of manufacturing in the Western world has taken place within the span of 30-40 years. If you could predict where the jobs would be coming from PJ, lets be honest, you wouldn't be chilling here at the org, you would be making the big bucks and becoming the next Bill Gates.

I am particularly interested in the growth of new forms of entertainment, especially the increasing influence of "YouTube personalities" and channels as well as the growth of eSports such as League of Legends. I doubt the latter will become anything comparing to physical sports given how unprofessional the market is, but you never know how things will develop over 10 years.

[HoreTore]

Automation is only a treath to the number of jobs if the level of wealth in society remains constant.

Fortunately for us, our level of wealth increases along with automation, and increased automation results in more jobs, not fever.

[Montmorency]

So you're saying you believe in trickle-down economics?

[HoreTore]

So you're saying you believe in trickle-down economics?

Believe is something you do in church, and I consider trickle-down economics to be nonsense. Not sure how increased number of jobs due to automation has anything to do with trickle.down economics, however. Care to explain?