Technology, Money and the Future.

I have this nagging idea in my mind that I have been thinking about for some time, and I have never been to really articulate it, even to myself. I thought I would try to put what I can about it here, and maybe some of the readers here can help me clarify my thinking. The topic has come up here before in various posts, so this is not a new discussion. I will put the problem as simply as I can.

1. People need to survive.

2. In our world people need money to survive.

3. To get money, (most) people need to have jobs.

4. Most people would be happy not to have a job if they could survive without one (edit: This does not mean they don’t want to work — many people do their best work voluntarily).

5. Technology is developing to a point where jobs are disappearing (and many are not coming back), making it harder for people to survive.

6. Technology is developing (we’re not there yet) to a point where it will be possible to live on much less.

7. People need jobs to get the money to buy the technology that would allow them to live on less money. Without those jobs, in order for people to survive, someone (governments or other entities) will need to provide people with either money or technology.

8. Technology does not normally get developed for free.

I think I have got most of my key thoughts down — very sketchily. I’m presenting a situation here, not a solution. I’d be interested in hearing from the readers about what I might be missing. The issues mentioned here are being discussed in various places these days and I think the discussion will only increase over time in various arenas (politics, nonprofits, business, religion, etc.)

Thanks for any of your thoughts!