Will Wealth and Money Become Redundant in the Future? (salary, generations, revolution)
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A homeless man has a better cell phone than a wealthy man 25 years ago.
Many billionaires now find they have redundant wealth.
A kid from a middle class family has more nice things than a King 500 years ago.
Will continue technological advancement make money obsolete? Why? Technology tends to become cheap with time and often becomes free.
Look at calculators:
1968 -- Hewlett-Packard releases the fully-electronic model 9100 desk-top calculator, priced at $4,900.
Today a calculator that is a 1000 times better comes free with your cell phone. Where does it end?
No because you can't compare a wealthy man 25 years ago to a homeless man today. 25 years ago a homeless man wouldn't have a cell phone at all. Today a homeless person may have a cell phone, but doesn't have a tablet, laptop, gaming system, giant TV, etc like a wealthy man does. The wealthy will always have more even if the poor gain some.
The rich are too rich though. Hopefully we are in the midst of a revolution or soon will be and we will be taking some of that money back from the uber wealthy. They don't need it all, generations could never come close to spending it. This country is too wealthy to have any homeless people. They certainly didn't earn it all either (tax evasion, off shore havens to avoid taxes, docking pay, not paying overtime, not paying a living wage, etc is not earning money; it's theft).
Will continue technological advancement make money obsolete? Why? Technology tends to become cheap with time and often becomes free.
But technology isn't the only thing you can buy with money. Some things will always be in limited supply compared to the numbers of people who want them. Think Park Avenue address, or beachfront house. Or (more significantly) meaningful political power.
So money isn't going to become obsolete any time soon.
No because you can't compare a wealthy man 25 years ago to a homeless man today. 25 years ago a homeless man wouldn't have a cell phone at all. Today a homeless person may have a cell phone, but doesn't have a tablet, laptop, gaming system, giant TV, etc like a wealthy man does. The wealthy will always have more even if the poor gain some.
I see a lot of homeless with cell phones. But, the other things do require a home. But, you miss the point: In a very short time the homeless man has has acquired a cell phone vastly superior to what a very wealthy person had in the past. With regards to a mobile phone that is a big equalizer.
And I know poor folks in the inner cities have all the other things you mention above. They may be very poor, but they have technology that is as good as the technology of folks that make a very good salary. Technological advancements create a more even society.
And do not forget that the poor consume more calories per day than the affluent for NO MONEY. This was unheard just a 100 years ago.
Quote:
The rich are too rich though. Hopefully we are in the midst of a revolution or soon will be and we will be taking some of that money back from the uber wealthy. They don't need it all, generations could never come close to spending it. This country is too wealthy to have any homeless people. They certainly didn't earn it all either (tax evasion, off shore havens to avoid taxes, docking pay, not paying overtime, not paying a living wage, etc is not earning money; it's theft).
That money belongs to them and they will only give it away when they reach the point of redundant wealth. There comes a time when extra money is not that important because we have everything we need.
But technology isn't the only thing you can buy with money. Some things will always be in limited supply compared to the numbers of people who want them. Think Park Avenue address, or beachfront house. Or (more significantly) meaningful political power.
So money isn't going to become obsolete any time soon.
I agree, but it will be a great day when the only difference between the poor and the billionaires is just a house in front of the beach. If everything else is equal, then capitalism has achieve the ultimate goal which is socialism secondary to redundant wealth. Bill gates is the greatest socialist in the planet.
I agree, but it will be a great day when the only difference between the poor and the billionaires is just a house in front of the beach.
I agree, but I bet in that hypothetical world the people who can't afford the beachfront house will still be b*tching about the unfairness of it all mightily. Like all good primates, we care deeply about our relative status within our troop. Only genuinely poor people use money primarily to obtain material necessities these days; for everyone else, we use it primarily as a tool to advertise our social standing.
In a very short time the homeless man has has acquired a cell phone vastly superior to what a very wealthy person had in the past. With regards to a mobile phone that is a big equalizer...
..And do not forget that the poor consume more calories per day than the affluent for NO MONEY.
How do you figure that the phone is an "equalizer"? The homeless man is still sleeping on the ground. I'd rather have a home than a cell phone, wouldn't you?
Not following what you're trying to say about calorie consumption, but obviously the affluent are eating much better than homeless persons.
How do you figure that the phone is an "equalizer"? The homeless man is still sleeping on the ground. I'd rather have a home than a cell phone, wouldn't you?
Not following what you're trying to say about calorie consumption, but obviously the affluent are eating much better than homeless persons.
The cell phone is just one aspect. The homeless man is still on the street but, has a better phone than a rich guy several years ago.
In the old days the poor died of starvation. These days the poor suffer from obesity, that is progress even if the obesity is dangerous.
And the poor with a roof over their heads have the same electronic amenities you have and in some parts of the world they get the Internet for FREE. Yeah, FREE Internet is another equalizer.
You keep adding those little "equalizers" and over time the difference between middle class and poor gets smaller.
And when technology gets cheap and when the rich get to the point of redundant wealth there is LESS difference.
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