Expand to do what? If we control more territory, how does that create more jobs?Reserve the robots for the homeland and make the colonies work off muscle power. Creates jobs for the otherwise useless. Better than giving them a rifle and making them charge machine guns.
I think you discount welfare too easily.I discount it because the very idea of welfare is socialism. It shouldn't exist.
Most people won’t have a job, but will be supported by the system without contributing to it. There will probably be enough wealth around that this will not be a strain for society.That would be Communism and producer slavery. The producers should go Galt if it's going to be like that.
Material standard of living quite aside, what will give these people purpose?This is why religion needs to be promoted again. Belief in God gives you a godly purpose.
My point was that socialism and capitalism both assume scarcity. They are ways of determining who gets what when there isn’t enough to go around.
I suspect that in the future “stuff” will be free or cheap enough that it is almost free.
In such an environment how are socialism and capitalism even relevant?
“make the colonies work off muscle power”
Where are these colonies you speak? Seti Alpha 5?