If your job can be done cheaper by a robot, then robots will be bought and you will get fired. Any other consideration, like who is going to buy goods it produces, is irrelevant as was made clear by outsourcing trends. Capitalism is schizophrenic this way. It is quite possible that we could automate into complete economical collapse.

Presently we do not have technology to automate on a massive scale at comparable price to salaries, but a number of recent developments rapidly changing this situation.

How this is going to play out? Well, you will have robotization putting downward pressure on all wages while putting upward pressure on unemployment. Meanwhile all productivity of this robotization will go toward owners/investors of these machines. The only way to compensate is redistribution via taxation or make-work programs maintained by monied elite.

Yes, you are right, 50% of unemployment is not going to happen overnight, unless cheap robotization also becomes available overnight, but claiming that it isn't possible is simply ignoring realities of technological progress.

Reality of modern life is that important work (e.g. innovation, design) is done by small % of society and it is easy to see that the rest of jobs can be automated.

Derid thinks that society will adjust by inventing new jobs. I disagree, we are no longer have any need for 'strong backs' nor will this change be contained to single industry allowing people to find employment elsewhere.

What are we going to do when phones are answered by robots, food grown, cooked, and served by robots, people and goods are transported by robots and construction and manufacturing is done by robots? Can we all find jobs in academia or entertainment?


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