From: Thomas Buckner (tcbevolver@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Nov 08 2004 - 17:31:22 MST
--- Dani Eder <danielravennest@yahoo.com> wrote:
> The real issue I see is the distribution of
> wealth.
> Right now business is moving to countries with
> low
> labor costs like India and China. If
> automation
> gets good enough, however, cheap labor may not
> be
> as much a factor. Business may then pull out
> of
> these countries.
I've been telling people for a while now that
soon, machines will be able to replace most of
our jobs, and then what? The wealth-distribution
problem now is rooted in the fact that technology
allows corporations to outsource or eliminate
jobs, while siphoning off the earnings of
laid-off/fired workers.
In other words, the economic model is obsolete
and will need to change when it becomes clear
that only a small ownership class (in the sense
of owning the factories, or owning patents/IP) is
reaping the benefits because everyone else is
being paid a pittance for whatever jobs remain.
Ultimately, of course, we would look for a
prosumer economy (where you have the means to
make anything you need) and money becomes
irrelevant. Before that happens, we can expect
old-guard status-quo greed to be an obstacle.
Incidentally, and in a hopeful instance of the
opposite, I am given to understand (from the new
Esquire magazine, the same mag where I first
encountered the word 'Singularity') that the EBay
founder is looking for suggestions on how to
spend his fortune productively. Perhaps some of
you should look in at www.omidyar.net and see if
their interest can be aroused.
Tom Buckner
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