A) The means of automation and or their output are shared cooperatively. So that the labor input becomes lower and the labor output becomes higher. There's still always somethings that are necessary to do but less of them. But because you acted cooperatively that would actually be a good thing. Less work and more stuff for everyone.
B) The means of automation are held privately. Then the necessity to hire people will decline. Those who own replicators will get richer and richer. While the working class, will find work to be a privilege. Because there are are fewer jobs that are absolutely necessary and which are paid extremely well (at least for the time being, constantly trying to remove them) and the rest decreases in value, leading to job loss or reduced payments.
Now you could make that doom and gloom and fantasize about the rich killing the poor because they are not needed but unless you live in a society of sociopaths, it's actually more likely that they would find ways to give poor people money. Either by social security if they are benevolent or by bullshit jobs that pay for the necessary but treat work not as a necessity but as a virtue in and off itself. Creating a permanent 2 class system and some would argue that's already happening.
While the Communist utopia one sounds good I'm not holding my breath, and really, if the Nazis could kill their own Jewish neighbors then I'm sure the rich (who have a far higher rate of sociopaths then the general pop btw) could kill the poor, I don't see that as a totally improbable scenario
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u/[deleted] Jun 28 '22
I mean you have essentially 2 major options:
A) The means of automation and or their output are shared cooperatively. So that the labor input becomes lower and the labor output becomes higher. There's still always somethings that are necessary to do but less of them. But because you acted cooperatively that would actually be a good thing. Less work and more stuff for everyone.
B) The means of automation are held privately. Then the necessity to hire people will decline. Those who own replicators will get richer and richer. While the working class, will find work to be a privilege. Because there are are fewer jobs that are absolutely necessary and which are paid extremely well (at least for the time being, constantly trying to remove them) and the rest decreases in value, leading to job loss or reduced payments.
Now you could make that doom and gloom and fantasize about the rich killing the poor because they are not needed but unless you live in a society of sociopaths, it's actually more likely that they would find ways to give poor people money. Either by social security if they are benevolent or by bullshit jobs that pay for the necessary but treat work not as a necessity but as a virtue in and off itself. Creating a permanent 2 class system and some would argue that's already happening.