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Someday society will be free from work and
need for money; a world where everyone can follow their passions, where everyone
is equal, and, once freed from pursuit of empire, money, and profit, a world at
peace.
In conversations about prospects of a
moneyless world thirty years ago, most people responded negatively, concluding
it was a crazy, Marxist, utopian idea. Well, that idea holds merit because of technological
advancements in automated robotic and autonomous systems.
No one should take a position that it’s impossible.
In light of those advances, it should be evident that eventually automated and
autonomous systems will force everyone out of work.
So, we need to be ready to accept a
world absent of work, wealth, and other norms that today we associate with
life. The transformation will unavoidably lead to a moneyless
economy that will solve the problem of unemployment and most, if not
all, of our world’s problems.
Transformations are gradual and will not
lead to changes overnight. But what might transformation look like. I don’t
believe there will be “catastrophic economic collapse” as predicted
by National Geographic’s Simon Worrall, but unemployment will continue to
be a problem. It’s the first indication of evolutionary change in the
transformation. Self-directed
enterprises and cooperatives are the next evolutionary change, which is quickly
becoming an accepted option.
Worrall concludes, “We are now at a tipping point where robotics, IF NOT
HANDLED RIGHT [my emphasis], may trigger mass unemployment and economic
collapse [where a moneyless system will be our only choice.]
But, “If we can address these issues, so
everyone has access to a reasonable standard of living while enjoying the
fruits of technology, we could have a very optimistic, almost utopian, future.
If we don’t, for lots of people who are not economically at the top, it’s going
to be pretty dystopian. Many people may lose their anchor to the middle class
and get into trouble in terms of the necessities of life.”
Today, Karl Marx’s metaphorical phrase, “The
last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope” also holds
merit.
Capitalist in their insatiable drive to
reduce cost in order to increase profit are the ones who have introduced automation
to the workplace. Automation is the rope in Karl Marx's quote that will eventually
eliminate the system granting them so much prosperity. For when people no
longer have a means to earn money, those who produce the things they buy will no
longer profit from the things they produce.
Copyright © 2015 Horatio Green
