[quote=SK in CV][quote=no_such_reality]
Unlike the past in which the workers provide all the labor and were necessary, today, workers are quickly becoming unnecessary.[/quote]
I think you overstate the case here. The move towards mechanization started 250 years ago, and has steadily progressed with ebbs and flows. But it has never moved backwards. There is the implication that there are no alternatives to this progression and eventually all labor will become obsolete. Hardly true. Some labor will always be required, despite advancements in mechanization.
There are also pretty simple fiscal policy changes that can in part alleviate the effects. For most of the last 90 years in the US, capital enjoys preferential tax treatment over labor. That can easily be changed. (Easy in the mechanical sense, politically, probably not so easy.) De-emphasizing tax preferences for capital over labor, along with raising wage requirements would serve to delay the effects of mechanization. It could be even further delayed by switching the preference to labor over capital.[/quote]
Exactly. In addition to that, we can enact tariffs that offset labor/environmental disparities between countries. If one country has better access to raw materials, then it makes sense to import from them (even finished goods, if necessary), or if another country can make a better-quality product for less because they have a better workforce or process, great.
But we cannot continue down the road we’re on without some incredibly dire consequences…and that includes dire consequences for capital as well as labor. The workers of the world are not going to lie down an die off just to make the world a better place for the capitalists. It just doesn’t work that way.
