--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "James F. Newell"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Although automation is fundamentally of value, it is distorting the
> free market by changing the value of labor. That also constitutes a
> threat to the free enterprise system. We therefore need to create a
> solution.
>
> To see the problem clearly, let us do a thought experiment by
> projecting automation forward until automated equipment could produce
> all the goods and services needed, but 99 of the population would be
> unneeded and unemployed. The economy would actually collapse well
> before this end point, which is why this is a thought experiment. The
> point is that along the way, the general type of problem at the end
> point partially occur, and that will become greater as automation
> increases.
>
> I don't think I necessarily have the answer but will present one
> possible solution. Hopefully, other people will have other ideas.
> Then, all those ideas could be gathered together and refined, and
> finally, the best could be selected.
>
> So my own contribution, hopefully waiting for different contributions
> from others, is:
>
> Being careful to balance this internationally so that no nation would
> become more competitive than others --------
>
> One would consider the automated equipment to be robot-equivalents.
> Then, since the robot-equivalents would be producing goods and
> services, they would be paid a modest wage. However, they wouldn't
> actually need that wage for food, housing, entertainment, etc. so the
> wage would be taxed 100% by the government. Government funds would
> then be used to support the people for whom there were no jobs in the
> private sector. This would restore a free market that companies could
> sell into, and people would have the money to buy products and
> services distributed by the companies. People could then start
> companies, build them up, buy and sell stock, etc. just as they do now.
>
> The governments of he world could use various methods to support people.
snip,
I would venture that the people should be responsible to support
themselves for the most part and the government should only be
supporting an environment to this end. N.
