Future State: capitalism will come to an end, and if we don't figure out some form of socialism...so will we

[Kracer]

Originally Posted by ambient

Here's my Nostradamus prediction:

It is inevitable that technological progress will continue to such an extent that computers and robots will take over not just the brute labor / blue collar work, but also massive swaths of the white collar work, too. They will, quite simply, put most of us out of a job. For the first time in human history, the vast majority of people will simply not be needed for any economic production.

The irony is that we harness capitalism to create this hyper-efficient future state, but once it's here...capitalism will no longer function. At first, what will happen is what we see today: more people increasingly live in poverty while a relative few hoard all the rewards. But soon after that, even the rich will discover that there simply are not enough income-generating humans to consume the goods they produce. The entire construct of "I work for a living so that I can spend money and support the economy" will go out the window; there just won't be a critical mass of people left in the cycle to make it work.

So what will be left? We'll be faced with attempting some form of socialism that has never succeeded on any broad scale. We'll need to find a new way to divide resources among societal members, one that is not based on direct work output...because hardly anyone will be doing the traditional concept of "work."

Of course, humans being what they are, those who hoarded the resources will be violently resistant to such a redistribution, and those who demand the shares will want ever more and more... So this ends poorly. Either we end up with a despot who rules with an iron fist, or else we end up with chaos and massive conflict. Given our technology, we have the capability to make that conflict our last.

humans are more imaginative and creative than you give them credit. A country like the US will flourish and be the seed for the rest of the world. We have a legacy that no other nation has. government interference will suffocate all life while successful individuals will carry the load and provide opportunities for others in a mutual admiration relationship. The confused and bewildered, that is the fail products of the social justice portals formerly called schools, will have a more difficult ime trying to figure out how to express their worth in a meaningful contribution to everyone else.