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They've been doing that in the Euro-States for decades. It's called job-sharing.
Netherlands: 29 hours per week.
Denmark: 33 hours per week.
Norway: 33 hours per week.
Ireland: 34 hours per week.
Germany: 35 hours per week.
Switzerland: 35 hours per week.
Belgium: 35 hours per week.
Sweden: 36 hours per week.
Italy: 36 hours per week.
Numerous other Euro-States have 37-39 hour work weeks for job sharing in order to hide their perennially high unemployment rates caused by the government and unions meddling with Free Market wages.
I don't see how it could be implemented in the US without an Amendment to the Constitution.
Agriculture is just one example. In 1950 it took 1/3rd of all working people to feed the people in the country. Today it only takes 1.5% of the population to grow a tremendous increased amount of food.
If we had the same type of telephone systems as in 1950 today, there are not enough working women to staff the telephone operators that would be needed to keep telephones working the way they did then.
Back then they were worried as some people are today as they saw jobs disappear (I know as I was in the work force then). But back then, they would never even have dreamed there would be all the IT jobs there are today as an example.
That is just two examples, of changes in jobs over the years, and the re-allocation of jobs. People are working on the new jobs as I write this.
Experts tell us, that just 10 years from now, that half the jobs people will working at in this country have not even been invented yet.
Tell me more about those people who are experts on the year 2026. How are they different from the experts of 1923 who predicted 1933's conditions, or those of 1991 predicting the mayhem of 9/11?
What those experts are REALLY saying is that ten years from now, 50% of our jobs will be obsolete, and there has to be SOMETHING that replaces them, right? Right? And they have no idea what those jobs could be.
What those experts are REALLY saying is that ten years from now, 50% of our jobs will be obsolete, and there has to be SOMETHING that replaces them, right? Right? And they have no idea what those jobs could be.
Point taken about experts. I hate 'em all, nobody knows the future. But as for the bolded, does there have to be something? Sure, some jobs will inevitably be created. But enough to replace ALL lost jobs? Who knows, but I DO know that there's no guarantee.
50% of our jobs will be obsolete, and there has to be SOMETHING that replaces them, right? Right?
The mechanism that replaced jobs from the early 1800s to the late 1970s was income/wealth sharing/redistribution (rising consumer incomes). Since then the mechanism has been debt escalation, but that is now maxed out.
But enough to replace ALL lost jobs? Who knows, but I DO know that there's no guarantee.
It isn't that hard to see that the jobs will not be replaced for the most part. The mechanisms that replaced them in the past are gone (incomes and debt). Even if we did have some structure in place to increase incomes, many people would still become unemployable at a decent wage.
It isn't that hard to see that the jobs will not be replaced for the most part. The mechanisms that replaced them in the past are gone (incomes and debt). Even if we did have some structure in place to increase incomes, many people would still become unemployable at a decent wage.
I agree with you. I'm being cautious when I say I don't know what exactly will happen. Because I actually don't. Maybe the COL/quality of life standard will plummet, allowing us to drop the minimum wage to Indian levels and below, making US workers temporarily competitive against even robots? Maybe war will employ us all? Like I said, nobody knows what the future holds.
That being said, my scenarios are short-term. In the long run, technology will outpace human ability in general, wealth will accumulate, the economy will stagnate, and jobs will be lost. It doesn't matter if robots, humans, chimps, or aliens are producing stuff. If nobody has money to buy it, the economy goes to ****.
By the way, why do you think debt is gone? Why can't a sovereign currency country print out money? Is that not essentially debt?
I think robots are overrated. Computers themselves I think brought about the biggest changes, and they will continue to do so. I think we've only scratched the surface.
Eventually, robots will become so cheap, that the majority of people will be using them in their every day lives. Not something to be afraid of, as far as I'm concerned.
Tricky question. Surviving in this world is a job in and of itself. Nature's not going to get our food for us. We have to work by default, or go extinct.
Tricky question. Surviving in this world is a job in and of itself. Nature's not going to get our food for us. We have to work by default, or go extinct.
Nah, we don't really have to work. Growing food is abundance is easy as pie. I do it for fun. Building shelter is easy too. I myself have low living standards, I could live in a shack.
But work is not the problem. Looking from your perspective, it is ultimately about property rights. I can't set up and farm on private or public property. I HAVE to have money for property tax, even if I was gifted land.
So what do you suggest? War between neighbors? War between the public and the government? There's a reason I always bring up war, globalization, international relations, resources, land etc. when we talk about basic income. The economy seems like this ethereal thing, because it is. It ALWAYS ultimately comes down to land, raw resources, labor, technology, and whether or not somebody can take those from you. Money is just the proxy.
So basically, do you think we're better off competing or cooperating? Most would argue it's inevitable to compete at a global-war scale, but I'm holding hope that we can be smarter. I don't see how it's that hard.
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