[–] menstreusel 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
End Of Middle Class: 51% Of US Workers Earn Under $30,000 Annually - https://voat.co/v/news/comments/614261
[–] pray_the_gay_away 3 points -2 points 1 point (+1|-3) ago
Because robots are making fat people useless but we need their beetus dollars to fuel our economy.
[–] flimflamedthezimzam 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
Because of automation. I don't personally see it myself, but it makes sense in a way. Before the industrial revolution we needed essentially everyone to work agriculture until they died. After we had machines to do a bulk of the work for the US we were able use the surplus to have children study for 8, and then eventually 12 years as a standard instead of working the fields, we could also allow the elderly to spend the last 5 and now 10-15ish years of their lives not working. (This standard of living obviously varies through the world. Developed nations afford their population 16 or more years of education, healthcare, and a longer retirement. Africa/developing nations/the US it's less.)
Automation is predicted to be as big of a shift or larger than industrialization, so Basic Income is seen by some as a way to address that surplus. I'm not personally a big fan of it yet, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
[–] Medicroger 1 point 6 points 7 points (+7|-1) ago
More progress = less employment.
Every food order taker, shelf stocker and truck driverjob could be replaced in 50ish years.
So.... Do we all starve and die because capitalism?
Or try to crush robots before they are born?
[–] SteelKidney 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
No, more progress = different employment. If we're going to protect all jobs eliminated by progress, then we'd better be prepared to become subsistence farmers. After all, advances in farming such as crop rotation and irrigation produced higher crop yields. This meant that fewer farmers were needed. The printing press eliminated scribe positions.
And you're ignoring the fact that progress creates jobs. Unless you think that Microsoft, Apple, Google, and everything Elon Musk touches hasn't resulted in any jobs. You know- producing their goods and services. Goods and services that weren't available 50 years ago.
So.... Do we all starve and die because capitalism?
No- we adapt.
[–] Medicroger 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Your not thinking macro enough bro.
It's not going to take the same amount of people working at MCdonalds to fix the MCdonalds robots.
That's the whole point. EVERYTHING will be automated and controlled with computers.
The future is one where people are obsolete.
Basic income is one of many ideas people have been debating about to adapt to the change.
Progress, more efficient means to produce, litteraly means less people will be needed to produce the same amount, so yeah.
New jobs with progress, but only a fraction of the ones that new technology, what ever it is, replaced.
[–] TheBrokenWorld 0 points 4 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago
How are you not seeing that you just illustrated how a large number of jobs were replaced by a small number of different jobs? Automation wouldn't be profitable if it didn't eliminate jobs.
[–] libby 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I've liked it since reading Friedrich Hayek. While I'm an anarchist, I recognize there's probably going to be a state for now. I think to keep people from overthrowing said state (and probably replacing it with something worse) when they get upset about their own bad decisions, you need some social safety net. A basic income appears to be the cheapest way to provide a safety net with the fewest market distortions. That last point is the most important in my opinion. Messing with the price system is very damaging to our economy because prices signal what we should be producing/consuming more of based on scarcity and desire. When you screw that up you can get over consumption of scare resources, overproduction of things we don't need so much of, or shortages.
Basically, it does one of the things a government probably has to do nowadays in the least destructive way possible and is fairly low in bureaucratic overhead.
[–] Dantalian ago
Because people have become disempowered and entitled.