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Originally Posted by Max2147
I think I get what you're saying, but I'm not sure it will lead to socialism.
We've already seen a lot of what you're describing in the US. Manufacturing jobs have dropped off in a huge way, replaced either by technology or by outsourcing. The result hasn't been socialism, it's been a service-based economy.
It used to be that American companies had their blue collar and white collar jobs in the US. Today a lot of the blue collar jobs have gone overseas or been replaced by technology, but the white collar jobs are still in the US, and there are more white collar jobs than before. In the future the blue collar jobs will continue to disappear - that's inevitable. Our hope will be to replace those jobs with more white collar jobs. The key will be education, which will give people the qualifications needed for the white collar jobs.
It's a major oversimplification, but I think that's where the future is going. Most people in advanced nations will have cushy white collar jobs, while robots at home and workers abroad replace the blue collar jobs.
I'm not saying this is all a good thing, but I think it's the way things are going.
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August got it exactly right, yet again. Essentially, the point is that the service-based capitalist economy will only go so far as the services are needed. As a result of non-tangible production, you're going to see what is needed provided in greater and greater quantities by technology.
What happens when technology can feed 500 million people, but only 300 million people can afford the food, due to that same technology reducing the need for individuals to be gainfully employed? Are we going to abandon those people, or will social programs step in?
@ Haplo:
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Seriously - capitalism isn't dead.
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You must've skimmed my original post because that is not at all what I'm saying. I'm talking about the long-term sustainability of capitalism. In fact, I agree that capitalism is a superior system to any other, but I do not believe that it can continue in its current form indefinitely, due to technological advancement.
Certain politically-inclined individuals should make a point to understand that this isn't a thread about ideology. It is meant to be analytical in nature.