avatarLon Shapiro

Summary

The website content discusses the feasibility and implications of a future economy where job stability is undermined by automation, and wealth distribution is questioned in the context of a society focused on selling and buying excess capacity.

Abstract

The author expresses appreciation for the originality of the ideas presented in the post, acknowledging that while each idea seems reasonable in isolation, their combination raises significant concerns. The primary issue is the sustainability of an economy where traditional stable jobs are scarce due to the impact of robots and AI. The author questions how the majority will earn money to participate in this new economy, especially considering the next generation's prospects in such a disrupted job market. Furthermore, the author points out a potential flaw in a system where tangible production is minimal, leading to a closed financial loop dominated by the wealthy. The example given is the impracticality of everyone writing a book and expecting to sell 100,000 copies, as it would require an equal number of purchases, suggesting an unsustainable economic model.

Opinions

  • The author values the original thinking presented in the post but is skeptical about the practicality of the proposed economic ideas when combined.
  • There is concern about how people will earn money in a future with unstable job prospects due to automation.
  • The author is skeptical about the survival of the next generation in an economy disrupted by robots and AI, especially for those without prior wealth.
  • The author suggests that an economy without jobs that produce tangible goods could lead to a closed financial system, perpetuating wealth inequality.
  • The author questions the logic of an economy where everyone is a producer and consumer, highlighting the implausibility of such a model with the example of book sales.

I’ve enjoyed your writing and appreciate your outside the box thinking and you raise some more interesting ideas in this post.

Taken separately, these ideas seem fairly reasonable. When you combine them, a number of questions come to mind:

  1. If nobody has a stable job anymore, how will the 99.9% make the money to afford to own excess capacity to sell or buy someone else’s excess capacity?
  2. Unless you have wealth before all the job disruptions caused by robots and AI, how do you foresee the next generation surviving?
  3. Without any jobs that actually build tangible things, don’t you end up with a completely closed financial system (with the exception of the 1% who controls more and more of the wealth) where the same money just keeps passing from hand to hand? For example , if everyone writes a book, where does the wealth come from for everyone to sell 100,000 copies of their book? Because that would also require each person to buy 100,000 books. Shouldn’t the one author who sells 100,000 books require that 99,999 authors would sell zero books?

I look forward to hearing your explanation.

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