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In our series on a post-work future, last time we looked at how jobs providing structure to daily life would be a significant obstacle to be overcome. This time, we tackle the obstacle of jobs are a primary source of income.
Most people’s ability “make a living” and gain access to society’s wealth and resources are based upon the money earned from a job. It serves as the primary mechanism by which economy distributes wealth. Having a job in most countries central to making the economy work. This role of jobs as income is likely to be the most difficult of the three (identity and structure being the other two) to change. The paradigm of the existing economic order is focused on full employment. The US for instance has full employment as a goal, and almost reluctantly provides a minimal level of social support programs for those not working or unable to work.
I vividly recall the quizzical and dismissive looks and the eye rolls when I suggested “full unemployment” ought to be our goal earlier in my career. The good news, though, is that in just in the last few years, ideas such as a universal basic income that were taboo only a few years ago, are increasingly being discussed and small pilots are underway.
As the title suggests, the challenge is a massive distribution problem. How do we get money to people if they don’t have jobs? Ideas such as welfare or social programs are stigmatized in many cultures, as are the concepts of socialism or communism – essentially they are “used futures” in a context that needs new ideas. While we can and certainly should learn from the past, we should not expect to successfully apply them in a future context that is much different. And the baggage is too heavy. If the discussion of post-work future is framed as capitalism vs socialism or communism, the game is lost!
The goods new is that if we play our cards reasonably well and take advantage of the massive gains possible from accelerating technology, we are likely to have the wealth to improve standards of living globally (granted, this is not a small assumption). The point is that the distribution problem is perhaps more challenging than availability problem – we’ll have the wealth, but how do we get it to everyone. Of course, this is at the heart of the post-capitalism research, and perhaps the toughest challenge of all. – Andy Hines
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