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I had an interesting conversation on Twitter. And it didn't get nearly enough attention, so I thought I would repeat it all here. It started when I came into an article talking about the ways fast food are moving to cut down on their employees by implementing robots and artificial intelligence. While we're not to the point yet where corporations no longer need any people. But you're fooling yourself if you think that isn't where were headed, or that we haven't already started seeing the effects. You're fooling yourself if you think there hasn't already been casualties. Just look at the automotive industry. Look at how many jobs lost, while companies are still able to maintain the same level of output. With robots. And it's spreading. Walmart or Fortinos only needs a couple cashiers on at a time, because they now have so many self-checkouts they don't need 6 people on the floor in a rush. Those are people without jobs now. Or people with much reduced hours.
And service jobs right now take up 90% of people employed in the US right now. 90% of jobs are in the service industry. And getting paid to service some richer person's needs. That in itself is a serious problem. And a problem I'm stuck in right now, forced to serve people coffee, or gas, because there's not room for me in the writing field. There's so much noise out there that there is just no room for me. The only people with time for me are you twenty or so people reading this, everyone else just doesn't have time for my nonsense. But that's not the problem I'm talking about here, that is a different kind of problem only tangentially connected by the fact so many people don't have time for leisure, or the money to waste on frivolous things, for their to be an audience for me. But so if all our other industries are constantly downsizing due to overpopulation and globalization and economic disparity and the increase of aritifcial intelligence, that 90% of our jobs are now in menial service positions, then how long until those service positions start going to. As we've covered they already have.
And it will continue getting worse. It will, there is no point in which things will get better. The only thing getting better is our skill at robotics, and the intelligence of the AI that powers those robots. We literally have AI right now that can learn. That aren't programmed, but instead given the tools and no information, and they figure out for themselves through exploration how to problem solve. And it's led to some scary results. They can play games now. Not just chess, but Warcraft, or league of legends. They can watch players play, and learn from those players to play better. That exists right now.
So then what happens, may I ask you, when corporations and all the rich people, big businesses, providers... The people with the goods, what happens when they don't need pay people to handle those goods anymore. What if the world becomes 10% of the people with the goods and services providing them to 90% of people who are supposed to be consumers but have no money. I mean we've already seen it happen, the number of people working crazy hours getting paid not enough for the labour they put in and having no life. And those are the people "lucky" enough to have jobs. (Meanwhile all the people seeing the actual money and profits are the people doing the least amount of work, though they would try to convince you we're the lazy ones and they've earned every penny. Yet much of Trump's money didn't come from hard work. His money came from taking advantage of vulnerable people.) This is how it starts. People don't have the money for frivolous things. And as less people by frivolous things, the more the prices for those things have to go up to compensate, and then you see a real divide between the rich and the poor. And the unemployed. You see more homeless. It's coming. And it's not 2040, it's coming now.
So what's the answer? I certainly depressed the shit out of the guy I was talking to, who was desperate I think to try to cheer me up and bring me hope. But I think I convinced him, as I hope I've convinced you, that the economy as it is now is broken. When a "Good" economy is one where only the rich continue to profit and the poor just get poorer and a lot of people don't even have enough money to live, there is something wrong with the system. It is not working right unless the goal is to kill all the poor. Because that is happening right now. I feel the pull every day. The pull of the abyss. And it's coming at me through my wallet.
But there is an answer. And it's going to take looking outside the box. So I bring you to Star Trek. Captain Picard says in Star Trek First Contact.... well I'll show you.
He points out money doesn't exist. She asks "You don't get paid." as in the concept of him doing all the things he's done, putting in all the things he's put in, are meaningless because he's not doing those things, and dealing with those unnecessary stresses and risks, for monetary gains. His response? "We do those things to better ourselves, and all of mankind."
Which brings me to my solution. And I'm as sure that I am right, as I'm sure that it will never happen. Because this solution is a conservatives worst nightmare. And I know that I can come off as a little crazy sometimes. I know that I can come off as a conspiracy theorist, talking about how conservatives know the world is going to shit, and all they care about is bettering their chances and their lot, giving more to the rich, and letting the poor die. And it's basically murder. And I know that all sounds crazy and exaggerated, but I'm not crazy. And by proxy, I'm not exaggerating either. When you pull money out of mental health services, and put a lot of mentally unstable people on the street who can't take care of themselves, and take that money and put it into helping the people who are already doing okay for themselves, you're straight up evil. ANd that's not an exaggeration. I'm not crazy. This world is crazy, and truly understanding it just makes you sound crazy by proxy.
But I know that my solution I'm about to suggest is the right one. I know it is, just as much as I know the conservatives in the world will never let it happen, because it will limit their ability to take advantage of vulnerable people. It will empower more people, and that's not what a conservative wants. I've been hesitant to speak my answer so far, because it is such a taboo topic. But it needs to be said. It's been explored, in Star Trek at least. But it wasn't until the most recent elections that I actually heard someone bring it up in the political arena... and was basically laughed off the stage, and absolutely did not win that election. It was a minor politician, not someone you've probably heard of, but the idea they poised was a revolutionary one. And it made me wonder if in some freaky alternate world it is the right answer, and could actually work. But it would never be this world.
She talked about, and here it is, she talked about giving a base paycheck to every citizen. like 800 or a 1000 dollars a month. Enough for money and rent. To every citizen. Therefore no one will want, and everyone will have enough to survive.
"That's an outrage" yells conservatives. And you probably aren't conservative. But I bet you yelled that too. We have something like that now. Welfare. And everyone hates it. "It breeds lazy people" yells conservatives. "And people just take advantage of the system." Surely you've seen someone, I know I have, who was abusing the system to profit more. To get the government to pay them, or to skimp out on taxes, and then you said "Grr, that makes me mad. WHy do I have to work hard and they dont." Well first of all, that's basically donald trump. He just got away with it and became president. And the fact that doesn't bother conservatives just boggles my mind. You see it's only evil when poor people do it. If a rich person does it, then it's smart.
But lets consider a couple other things. For one, if this was a base payout that went out every month to every citizen, there would be no way to take advantage of the system. It would be the same for everyone. "Have more children" maybe. Sure. But then they're being breeders, which in some science fiction is a proffession, but we're getting distracted from the point, and there's another thing to consider.
The second thing to consider is in regards to conservatives insisting "Well, but if I'm getting paid by the government, why even work at all, I'll just quite my job" Well first of all, okay. Quit your job. If it was important, someone else will take your place, someone who wants the job and will probably do it better than you. But second of all, if Laziness is a bad trait in a person. Okay. Fair. But is it a trait worthy of dying for. Because that's the world we're creating, in which you might as well be sentencing lazy people to death yourself, and running them through with a sword. But of course doing it this way you don't have to get their blood on your hands. Is this an exaggeration? Is it?
So if laziness isn't something worth dying for, and we're paying people just to exist, why even work at all. Well that goes back to what Picard says. The want to better ourselves and mankind. This is a want we all are born with, and it is a want eventually replaced with greed. But not always. There are people out there who won't be content with just playing fortnite and getting drunk. Who are trying to do something with their life, trying to do the right thing. There will always be people who want to make a difference, and who don't do it for money. And they're probably the ones that deserve that little extra something something.
Which brings me to my next point, in case you didn't notice, 800 to a 1000 dollars isn't that much money. I can't actually live off of just that. It would have helped a lot to have that in times when I really needed it, when I was without a job and there was no welfare to help me (Because, surprise, welfare doesn't work the way conservatives like to make people think it does). But even now, with my job, imagining that extra money would save my fucking life right now. Would turn my whole life around. Everyones lives. But I'd still work. You're damned right I would. Maybe less hours, so that I could have more time for my writing, but that's exactly what it's about. Letting people work hard, provide for themselves or their family, but still have time to live a life. That's what it would mean to a lot of people.
And you'd be making spending money. With my payout going to rent and food, working would give me money for better food, or for multiple tvs, or a car, or eating out more often, things that also, I might add, give back to the economy. When people don't have enough money to survive, they don't have money to be consumers either. I don't understand why that's so hard for conservatives to understand. Go towards a better place, owning my own place, it would give options to people it wouldn't. But yes, who would have to pay for this? The rich. And of course the moment the rich smell socialism, they jump ship, move to another country, and then without the rich the country no longer is capable of sustaining itself and falls apart. That is the reality, and it's fueled by greed.
The rich people in this world, 90% of the time, aren't rich because they worked harder like they'd want you to believe. They are rich because of luck (Lottery, actress, any overpopulated field), or they are a predator. Period. And I know this all sounds super scary. Humans are conditioned to fear change, and this would literally be the biggest change to our society since our move from feudalism to democracy. But if you really want to believe the star trek future is possible, if you really want to see it come to fruition. I guarantee to you right now, I feel like I have this sudden sense of clarity and I know that, this is the first step towards that. making it so nogbody needs anymore, is the first step. When we stop needing money to live, when getting money stops becoming our primary motivator, then the question stops becoming "How much does this cost?" or "How can I take advantage of this thing to get ahead" and it instead becomes "How do we take the resources we have, and distribute it evenly and renewably amongst our population." When you stop having to fight everyone around you to try to get the biggest piece of the pie, then you can start asking how to make that pie sustainable for everyone, so everyone succeeds. Thats the Star Trek future. And it wouldn't just solve our class division. It would solve climate change too. That's the answer to everything that's wrong with the world right now, it could quite liekly be the only thing that could make the difference between our entire species dying out, or advancing to a new era.
It's at the very very least, worth talking about. Worth thinking about.
I hope someone got to the end of this. Post below with your opinions, I'd like to hear them. Sorry this went on so long. Don't worry, there's a new chapter coming out this weekend. I'm also going to release a new episode of my podcast soon, I promise. Anyone waiting for that. I know it's been awhile. I've been really busy. I swear. And then, once those things are out of the way, maybe I can finally play and stream some video games again. It's been so long.
Also, and finally, my next blog entry will probably be a review of Runaways, so you can look forward to that. Spoiler? I fucking love it so far. Okay, guess I don't need that review anymore, check that off the list. Oh also, there might be some talk shows from last week showing up on the rankings this week, cause I'm still behind and been watching runaways instead like a bad bad boy.
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