Some things that have recently come up in conversations with my family members revolves around the economy and unemployment. While I am certainly not in a position to claim why unemployment levels are where they are, I do think that a case can be built for a trend towards unemployment.
With the increasing of automation, I think we're all noticing that certain jobs are completely disappearing from the market. I have fond memories of "sleep-overs" in my childhood, and they usually involved going to a video rental store to pick up a video game for the weekend. This...does not seem nearly as common today. In fact, the entire store has been condensed into a vending machine at some points. I ask myself, what is next? How far are we going with this automation?
I have naive hopes that the service industry in general, maybe specifically cashiers, customer service representatives, and fast food employees, will not become completely automated, but I must sigh a breath of what I consider realism at the strong possibility these careers will vanish altogether. With the increase of technologies allowing stores to be put in boxes, I imagine robot workers simply WILL occur. They might not in my lifetime, but it does seem inevitable since a robot employee is much, much cheaper than a real human one. Health insurance benefits combined with training time alone should be a strong argument, not even mentioning consistency in service.
Now, with the human population at approximately 7 billion, one has to step back and wonder...what will people do? What if we reach a point where there simply aren't jobs for people. Individuals might be more than happy to work for any given industry, but there simply aren't enough jobs to do so.
I could see a push for more research and developmental oriented jobs. Maybe a move towards jobs requiring higher degrees. The idea of there being a degree after a PhD just makes me laugh hysterically. Imagine a point where everyone has to have a PhD just to get a job. I suppose the problem with this push is that education takes a significant amount of time. The manufacturing of automated employees, once the initial quirks have been eliminated, will probably occur much faster than the labor force can respond. That implies, I would think, a heavy, lengthy gap of time where there will probably be little to no work for some individuals, myself possibly included. What will happen?
I could see a heavy reliance on social programs, which appear to be diminishing presently. However, without a substantial income and proof of ability, how would someone climb the ladder of education. Student loan debt is a definite possibility, but I envision some sort of quadratic trend whereby jobs disappear faster than students can get through the required courses. I sit back and think, "This will probably be bad."
Of course, this is mostly speculation on topics that I am not an authority on. I am curious if there could be a civilization without jobs and just what that sort of society would be like. Some of my fondest memories from school involve conversations with the janitor, Jerry. He collected beer signs, mostly metal ones, and he always had some sort of story to tell you through the coarse, Socrates beard that clung to his face. This one's for you, sir. From the land of Sky-Blue waters.
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