I didn't try to answer my question last night because I wanted any actual readers to have the space to think about it themselves.
If we ever did reach my proposed hypothetical situation, I can image a couple of immediate consequences - inflation would rise, and more jobs would be automated.
Of course, that still leaves a whole slew of questions. Like - how much would inflation rise? And for which items? Would it lead to everyone ending up exactly where they are now, or is there some limit it would reach.
That is, demand would rise and prices rise, but there's sort of an upper limit in some cases. Like consumable goods - one person can only consume so much, so even if everyone who wanted to could afford to buy as much as they want it the demand would eventually level off. And how many cars would someone really want/need, anyway? Some economic equilibrium would be reached, just at a higher price than it currently is. And demand would fall for goods that would be considered inferior, so more people would be buying Mercedes or Porches and less would be buying the more mediocre car-makers. Meaning a boom time for high end manufacturers, while low end manufacturers would either go out of business or move into the high end market.
Businesses would automate the hell out of things, since there'd be few people willing to work the lower status jobs.
But what about the jobs that just can't be automated? Like cherry picking. Would there be enough incentive for someone to find a way to automate it? Or would people decide that they want cherries enough to pay really high prices, so that cherry farmers can pay someone enough to convince them to harvest cherries? Or will people who enjoy cherries decide to work, as a matter of pride and service (ensuring people can enjoy fresh fruit)? And if so, would they decide to work for an hour, four hours, eight hours?
What would this do for work schedules, and productivity, anyway? I mean, if you didn't have to worry about making the money that comes from a 40 hr/workweek, why not work different hours?
And if you don't actually need a salary, then maybe businesses would just pay some amount as more of a status marker (which it kind of already is, tbh) than anything anyone is expected to actually live off of. Like, you could totally leave the place if you wanted to...but you stick around in the position you're in because you care about the work, and hope to build enough experience to move on to something better. Not because you have to pay the bills.
This hypothetical is so far out there that I have a hard time picturing it, but I do have some semi-educated guesses. First - most people need some sort of purpose in their life, so you will still have people choosing to work (I'm sure some people wouldn't bother, but I have no idea how many. I'd want a study of our current multi-millionaires to see how they wind up spending their time. From what I can tell, most still seem to work somewhere, or attend board meetings, or volunteer philanthropically, or find something to keep them busy by choice even though they have absolutely no need for the income).
Capitalism seems based on fear, sometimes. There are people who sincerely believe humans need to be motivated by their fear (of losing their homes, or starvation, or what-have-you) in order to get them to do the work needed. Which is kind of BS, I think. Or rather, it may be true for the sort of demeaning and menial tasks that people don't volunteer for...but if people were truly at a state where they're needs were met, where they weren't in danger of starvation or homelessness, I really don't think they'd decide to spend the rest of their lives hanging out on a beach.
I know that's kind of a common fantasy, but honestly? After a week (or a month, or a year, depending on the person) most people would get bored. Itchy. Sure, some people might enjoy doing nothing else in their life...Every. Single. Day. I can't imagine that the majority would, though. That fantasy only works because of the contrast to our current existence.
So what can we guess would happen? Inflation (which may or may not cause a problem, depending on how much and with what goods). Automation (which is already happening). People working by choice, in positions of their choice, and who are willing to speak up or move on if necessary because they're not in deathly fear of losing their jobs. Some question about who would be willing to take on the dirty but necessary tasks that can't be automated. The likelihood that people will work fewer hours, and devote more time to entertainment of one sort or another...
A boom in luxury goods, arts, and entertainment industries but a bust in businesses that compete for the low end/high volume markets.
Hmmm. And probably a boom in the financial markets. To the investors and money managers, since even though everyone should know how to manage their money there's a difference between knowing how to evaluate a wealth manager and knowing how to invest your money yourself.
It's the sort of thing that seems utterly impossible, like there's some basic flaw that would make it unworkable. But it'd sure as hell be a fun thing to try.
If we ever did reach my proposed hypothetical situation, I can image a couple of immediate consequences - inflation would rise, and more jobs would be automated.
Of course, that still leaves a whole slew of questions. Like - how much would inflation rise? And for which items? Would it lead to everyone ending up exactly where they are now, or is there some limit it would reach.
That is, demand would rise and prices rise, but there's sort of an upper limit in some cases. Like consumable goods - one person can only consume so much, so even if everyone who wanted to could afford to buy as much as they want it the demand would eventually level off. And how many cars would someone really want/need, anyway? Some economic equilibrium would be reached, just at a higher price than it currently is. And demand would fall for goods that would be considered inferior, so more people would be buying Mercedes or Porches and less would be buying the more mediocre car-makers. Meaning a boom time for high end manufacturers, while low end manufacturers would either go out of business or move into the high end market.
Businesses would automate the hell out of things, since there'd be few people willing to work the lower status jobs.
But what about the jobs that just can't be automated? Like cherry picking. Would there be enough incentive for someone to find a way to automate it? Or would people decide that they want cherries enough to pay really high prices, so that cherry farmers can pay someone enough to convince them to harvest cherries? Or will people who enjoy cherries decide to work, as a matter of pride and service (ensuring people can enjoy fresh fruit)? And if so, would they decide to work for an hour, four hours, eight hours?
What would this do for work schedules, and productivity, anyway? I mean, if you didn't have to worry about making the money that comes from a 40 hr/workweek, why not work different hours?
And if you don't actually need a salary, then maybe businesses would just pay some amount as more of a status marker (which it kind of already is, tbh) than anything anyone is expected to actually live off of. Like, you could totally leave the place if you wanted to...but you stick around in the position you're in because you care about the work, and hope to build enough experience to move on to something better. Not because you have to pay the bills.
This hypothetical is so far out there that I have a hard time picturing it, but I do have some semi-educated guesses. First - most people need some sort of purpose in their life, so you will still have people choosing to work (I'm sure some people wouldn't bother, but I have no idea how many. I'd want a study of our current multi-millionaires to see how they wind up spending their time. From what I can tell, most still seem to work somewhere, or attend board meetings, or volunteer philanthropically, or find something to keep them busy by choice even though they have absolutely no need for the income).
Capitalism seems based on fear, sometimes. There are people who sincerely believe humans need to be motivated by their fear (of losing their homes, or starvation, or what-have-you) in order to get them to do the work needed. Which is kind of BS, I think. Or rather, it may be true for the sort of demeaning and menial tasks that people don't volunteer for...but if people were truly at a state where they're needs were met, where they weren't in danger of starvation or homelessness, I really don't think they'd decide to spend the rest of their lives hanging out on a beach.
I know that's kind of a common fantasy, but honestly? After a week (or a month, or a year, depending on the person) most people would get bored. Itchy. Sure, some people might enjoy doing nothing else in their life...Every. Single. Day. I can't imagine that the majority would, though. That fantasy only works because of the contrast to our current existence.
So what can we guess would happen? Inflation (which may or may not cause a problem, depending on how much and with what goods). Automation (which is already happening). People working by choice, in positions of their choice, and who are willing to speak up or move on if necessary because they're not in deathly fear of losing their jobs. Some question about who would be willing to take on the dirty but necessary tasks that can't be automated. The likelihood that people will work fewer hours, and devote more time to entertainment of one sort or another...
A boom in luxury goods, arts, and entertainment industries but a bust in businesses that compete for the low end/high volume markets.
Hmmm. And probably a boom in the financial markets. To the investors and money managers, since even though everyone should know how to manage their money there's a difference between knowing how to evaluate a wealth manager and knowing how to invest your money yourself.
It's the sort of thing that seems utterly impossible, like there's some basic flaw that would make it unworkable. But it'd sure as hell be a fun thing to try.
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