Will things ever get easier for the common man?

kabayiri

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

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Nanotechnology is another. Only a matter of time until instead of a surgeon stitching you up, you get an injection of nano robots that rebuild you cell by cell.

Think what someone from the likes of downtown abbey would have made of things like the space shuttle, 1km tall buildings, nuclear weopans, stem cell research, the Internet, etc etc. Imo, the difference between 2100 and now will be even more vast.

I have pondered this topic; is it always the case that technology benefits the mass population.

My feeling is that societal infrastructure doesn't guarantee this.

Imagine a UK innovator invents the first practical flexible robot tomorrow. It's fantastic value, and can turn it's hand to all manner of industrial , agricultural and domestic tasks.

You would imagine this to be a dream solution.

Every 'Dragon' would be pushing the innovator to get the robot built in China to keep costs down after a short intro. If this were the case it wouldn't be a jobs generator building the unit.

Now what would all those people displaced from the workplace by this robot do ? How would the wealth generated trickle down to them ?

We have not come up with an answer to this for the common man. Mining jobs; manufacturing job; mass clerical jobs; they have all disappeared in volume numbers.

Yes, technology moves on, but does society ?

ruggedtoast

kabayiri wrote: »

I have pondered this topic; is it always the case that technology benefits the mass population.

My feeling is that societal infrastructure doesn't guarantee this.

Imagine a UK innovator invents the first practical flexible robot tomorrow. It's fantastic value, and can turn it's hand to all manner of industrial , agricultural and domestic tasks.

You would imagine this to be a dream solution.

Every 'Dragon' would be pushing the innovator to get the robot built in China to keep costs down after a short intro. If this were the case it wouldn't be a jobs generator building the unit.

Now what would all those people displaced from the workplace by this robot do ? How would the wealth generated trickle down to them ?

We have not come up with an answer to this for the common man. Mining jobs; manufacturing job; mass clerical jobs; they have all disappeared in volume numbers.

Yes, technology moves on, but does society ?

You dont need people doing mindless jobs to have an economy. Music and film are two of the largest industries around, but they are by most measures useless. Nevertheless Tom Cruise is paid a fortune, millions is spent on distributing things so people can stare at a flickering screen, and you have no trouble getting a loan to attend film school. Even if you pay it off with your janitor job.

If robots took over all drudge jobs tomorrow the economy would just shift elsewhere.

Even in the worst case scenario where the usual neo-liberals monopolise the output of the robots they still need a consumer base to sell to, so wealth is created by the plebs getting their loans to buy or run other things.

The problem with inequality isnt around our species productive output, its over how that output is measured and the mathematical impossibility of it ever being anything other than massively unequal under fractional reserve banking governed by neo-liberalism.

tescobabe69

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Its funny how every boomer who posts seems to have struggled for decades for a pittance barely acquiring two pieces of coal to rub together and is now facing a retirement of penury; when this doesnt in any way accord with the stats we have as to where the majority of wealth lies.

If no one owes you anything I'm sure you wont mind foregoing your pension. I for one would be delighted not to have to pay it for you. Especially as it doesnt look like there will be anyone to pay mine when I (eventually) retire.

You dont have to pay the pension cost, either earn below the tax threshold or leave.
There are lots of things about the UK I dont agree with, but not enough to make me leave(yet).

ruggedtoast

tescobabe69 wrote: »

You dont have to pay the pension cost, either earn below the tax threshold or leave.
There are lots of things about the UK I dont agree with, but not enough to make me leave(yet).

You'd just end up paying tax to another country's boomers.

They are transnational and have feathered their own nests on a global scale.

AliceJenkins

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You'd just end up paying tax to another country's boomers.

They are transnational and have feathered their own nests on a global scale.

You would be paying a lot less.

ukcarper

I think I’m a pretty average boomer the house I am in is probable worth £250k so I could downsize to a house worth £175k and have £75k to play with. If it had only kept up with inflation in would be worth about £200k and the smaller house would be worth about £140 so I would have about £60k only £15k less. The remainder will either go to my children or the state in terms of nursing home fees.

With regards paying for my pension I have paid for all the pensioners before me I also have paid for the 6th form and university education that I was not able to take advantage of.

Procrastinator333

kabayiri wrote: »

I have pondered this topic; is it always the case that technology benefits the mass population.

My feeling is that societal infrastructure doesn't guarantee this.

Imagine a UK innovator invents the first practical flexible robot tomorrow. It's fantastic value, and can turn it's hand to all manner of industrial , agricultural and domestic tasks.

You would imagine this to be a dream solution.

Every 'Dragon' would be pushing the innovator to get the robot built in China to keep costs down after a short intro. If this were the case it wouldn't be a jobs generator building the unit.

Now what would all those people displaced from the workplace by this robot do ? How would the wealth generated trickle down to them ?

We have not come up with an answer to this for the common man. Mining jobs; manufacturing job; mass clerical jobs; they have all disappeared in volume numbers.

Yes, technology moves on, but does society ?

The economy, jobs and society all move on. People said the same thing about the industrial revolution. The machines would be the end. To the point where they used to smash up the machines. Did they cause the carnage they feared? No. Things change. The only thing that doesn't is that most people fear change.

ruggedtoast

ukcarper wrote: »

I think I’m a pretty average boomer the house I am in is probable worth £250k so I could downsize to a house worth £175k and have £75k to play with. If it had only kept up with inflation in would be worth about £200k and the smaller house would be worth about £140 so I would have about £60k only £15k less. The remainder will either go to my children or the state in terms of nursing home fees.

With regards paying for my pension I have paid for all the pensioners before me I also have paid for the 6th form and university education that I was not able to take advantage of.

Yes but there were more of you than there were of them.

There are now more of you than there are of us but we still have to pay your pension. And a very nice pension you've promised for yourselves too.

Considering you boomers significantly outnumber 18 - 25 year olds, and also expect them to earn enough to carry you through retirement, I should think you better pay for their educations.

Tution fees are a bit rich imo.

ukcarper

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Yes but there were more of you than there were of them.

There are now more of you than there are of us but we still have to pay your pension. And a very nice pension you've promised for yourselves too.

Considering you boomers significantly outnumber 18 - 25 year olds, and also expect them to earn enough to carry you through retirement, I should think you better pay for their educations.

Tution fees are a bit rich imo.

If they were doing useful degrees I might agree with you. So what you are saying now is it’s not that boomers have acquired untold wealth but that there are a lot of them I’m not sure what we could have done about that.

Also it’s not just the 18-25s paying for it.

RenovationMan

ruggedtoast wrote: »

You'd just end up paying tax to another country's boomers.

They are transnational and have feathered their own nests on a global scale.

Certain countries have had the foresight to create Sovereign Wealth Funds. Norway in particular has a huge fully funded pension pot for their retirees.