Interesting Thought on Civil Unrest / SHTF in 20 years

[OKCHunter]

I was listening to Fox News today and heard a comment that within 20 years many of today's jobs will be replaced by robots leaving masses of people without income. He made a comment along the lines of the SHTF scenario may come from these people turning criminal trying to survive instead of from a political / natural disaster. Apparently, Bill Gates has stated that robots should be taxed the same as a human worker to try and mitigate this situation.

 

[dlbleak]

This is a good topic. Elon Musk recently said that he foresees a 'universal pay system' for people that cannot find work because of robotic,automated tasks being done by robots. Mark Cuban said something similar. The real question to me is, are the billionaires trying to stay in front of this only speeding the time frame up?

 

[HiredHand]

What kind of criminals? Perhaps people in the future won't need to labor so much to fulfill their needs. Keynes wrote about this back in 1930. http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf

 

[John6185]

Speaking of people that run criminal, Trump says he signed an EO requiring jobs to be given to Americans before foreign workers. How is that going to work out? It would seem that the people that are here aren't going back to their home country and if they can't obtain job, they re going to resort to theft or worse to get what they want. Some already have done that, all they need is a desire and a gun.

 

[BrandonM]

Someone has to work on the machines, design them, build them, maintenance them. One new industry usually spawns another. If anything it would push the need for higher paying tech jobs. People may need to adapt to the changes, which can be hard, but a distopian future due to robots is unlikely. Or maybe judgement day is around the corner and I'm way off base, who knows.

 

[OKCHunter]

What kind of criminals? Perhaps people in the future won't need to labor so much to fulfill their needs. Keynes wrote about this back in 1930. http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf

Interesting read - but I don't believe it. Quote from the article - "Of course there will still be many people with intense, unsatisfied purposiveness who will blindly pursue wealth-unless they can find some plausible substitute..."

People in the USA (the last couple of generations) have become accustomed to the "finer" things of modern life. How is a person going to afford housing, a vehicle, cell phone, color tv, internet, health insurance, food, clothes, etc. without a job?

 

[steelfingers]

Critical tipping points are forever being reached and extended. Will the CTP be when robots are doing all the work formerly done by man except for the building and maintenance of the robots? Perhaps the CTP will be when the robots are building and repairing too. Or more likely to the doomsdayers, maybe it will happen when they can not only build but also improve and improvise?
Who knows, but those tipping points are always pushed further away once they are achieved.
I doubt humanity will let itself become extinct by apathy.
Mankind is an oddity.
If there's a mountain we climb it. If there's an ocean we cross it. If something is a threat, we kill it.

 

[OKCHunter]

This is a good topic. Elon Musk recently said that he foresees a 'universal pay system' for people that cannot find work because of robotic,automated tasks being done by robots. Mark Cuban said something similar. The real question to me is, are the billionaires trying to stay in front of this only speeding the time frame up?

That is an interesting comment. In other words, by bringing this concept to the forefront they are accelerating the outcome. The actions they are taking today will make this an eventual reality.

 

[OKCHunter]

Speaking of people that run criminal, Trump says he signed an EO requiring jobs to be given to Americans before foreign workers. How is that going to work out? It would seem that the people that are here aren't going back to their home country and if they can't obtain job, they re going to resort to theft or worse to get what they want. Some already have done that, all they need is a desire and a gun.

"...the people that are here aren't going back to their home country and if they can't obtain job.." That just exacerbates the situation.

 

[MacFromOK]

Robots are very limited in scope. Mass production where repetitive actions are required is where they shine.

Any job that requires interaction, creativity, complicated visual inspection, or real world problem solving will likely remain in the human realm for the foreseeable future.

Occupations such as law enforcement, firefighters, farmer/ranchers, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, and construction workers (to name a few) are too complex for robotic systems to handle in anything but the most controlled environments.

Just my 2¢ ...