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Read this interesting essay written by DEREK THOMPSON
For centuries, experts have predicted that machines would make workers obsolete. That moment may finally be arriving. Could that be a good thing ?
The end of work is still just a futuristic concept for most of the United States, but it is something like a moment in history for Youngstown, Ohio, one its residents can cite with precision: September 19, 1977.
For much of the 20th century, Youngstown's steel mills delivered such great prosperity that the city was a model of the American dream, boasting a median income and a home ownership rate that were among the nation's highest. But as manufacturing shifted abroad after World War II, Youngstown steel suffered, and on that gray September afternoon in 1977, Youngstown Sheet and Tube announced the shuttering of its Campbell Works mill. Within five years, the city lost 50,000 jobs and $1.3 billion in manufacturing wages. The effect was so severe that a term was coined to describe the fallout: regional depression.
Youngstown was transformed not only by an economic disruption but also by a psychological and cultural breakdown. Depression, spousal abuse, and suicide all became much more prevalent; the caseload of the area's mental-health center tripled within a decade. The city built four prisons in the mid-1990s—a rare growth industry. One of the few downtown construction projects of that period was a museum dedicated to the defunct steel industry.
The future will tell us whether or not this pans out as he envisions. What does SN think will happen ?
Original Submission
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25 2015, @12:03PM
And what about the Protestants? In a world with no work, protestants wont be able to get into heaven, y'know.
This thing.... with NOT looking at the historical social factors and trends, and only looking at the coming of the self-maintaining machines from an economical standpoint. So what that rich cannot get richer? They do not deserve their current positions... Why is it such a problem to share food and clothing with everybody, instead of exchanging it unfairly for more money then it costs to produce?!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by dcollins on Thursday June 25 2015, @02:12PM
"Why is it such a problem to share food and clothing with everybody...?"
Mostly because the sociopaths who own it will now have robot drones with guns.
(Score: 1) by srobert on Thursday June 25 2015, @08:26PM
When there's too much work to do and not enough people to do it, it makes sense to create a "work ethic" and convince people that to be good is to do one's share or more. That hasn't been true for some time now. The "work ethic" is for chumps. It is aimed at getting you to do more than your share so someone else can get wealthy from the fruits of your labor. We need to a have a new system of morality to meet a world where automation is doing most of the work. It's first commandment should be, Thou shalt not be a chump.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25 2015, @09:27PM
And what about the Protestants?
Reformation 2.0.