[SamAdams76]

Reminds me of a science fiction short story I read one in which robots do all the labor while all humans have to do is sit around and be waited on by them. So basically there was very little work for humans to do. Yet the cost of everything was so cheap (because whatever it was was either made or done by robots) that people really had no need to go out and earn money.

I forget how the story ended but I don't think it ended very well. Something like the robots deciding that humans didn't need to be around anymore.

[ClearCase_guy]

BFL

Our culture has become convinced that manual work is demeaning. I think that may have to change. Personally, if I could work on a farm, hoe beets, tend cattle, etc. and just know that some automated factory someplace could send me a tractor when I needed one, or bananas from Guatemala could show up at the farmstand down the road -- I would call that a darn good life. There would be hard work (just for fun), I'd be in great shape, I'd have dirt under my fingernails, and I'd be really happy. And that sort of glorious life of manual labor could be made possible when robots do the work that ensures a foundation economy so that hobby farms can exist without fear of not being viable.

Man needs work.
The economy may not need much human labor, but Man needs work.
As a culture, we need to build values that convince people to embrace the simple need for work.

The alternative is ghetto violence in every neighborhood in every city in every state. Just 'cause sitting and watching TV and waiting for the EBT card gets boring for everyone -- so why not go play the knockout game??