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Re:The AI Threat Isn’t Skynet – It’s the End of the Middle C... by rrggrr on Friday February 10, 2017 @03:51PM (#13618785)
I think you've nailed it with this observation. The middle class may be a mile marker on a many millennium journey from self/tribal sustenance to ubiquitous sustenance as specialization, automation and efficiency combine to compress social-economic classes. This assumes an intelligent and benevolent ruling class. The Snowpiercer outcome is possible too.
Re:The AI Threat Isn’t Skynet – It’s the End of the Middle C... by e40 on Friday February 10, 2017 @04:40PM (#13619138)
This assumes an intelligent and benevolent ruling class.

That would never happen, except temporarily. Those who want power for selfish reasons (money, control, etc) will always prevail in the long run, because they are slightly more likely to seek power. It's the Darwinism of politics. What we see going on today is merely that playing out. Good politicians play by the rules and the bad ones do not. This puts the good ones at a severe disadvantage. I'm using "good" here to mean ethical and moral.