The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China, It’s Automation

Re:The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China, It’s Automation by padobson on Thursday December 22, 2016 @07:47AM (#13236900)

Maybe, but I'm not sure Marx understood that capitalism would have such a potential for wealth distribution. Today, you can buy a 3D printer for 1/20th of the median US salary. You can buy a super computer that fits in your pocket for 1/50th of it. You can call your broker and buy an ownership stake in Apple, Exxon Mobil, or General Electric for smaller fractions than that.

Capitalism has actually provided far more avenues for laborers to own the means of production than any communist revolution has.

As automation gets better and cheaper, there will still be jobs for everyone - they'll just be performed by the robots they purchased for 1/10th, 1/20th or 1/50th of the median wage.

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Re:The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China, It’s Automation by twoquestions on Thursday December 22, 2016 @10:04AM (#13237645)

You could buy bits of capital in the 1890s as well, and technology was advancing at a breakneck pace then too, but society still became a quasi-feudal state. Some form of wealth redistribution will be necessary to ensure people's freedom, the tricky bit is how to do it without unduly stifling innovation and investment.

Lately I've really been grappling with how to accomplish this, and it is a Very Hard problem.

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