On Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 12:23 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote:
No modern society can survive without some measure of redistribution from > wealthy people to middle class and poor people. This necessity is imposed > by our technology, in manufacturing and farming. We will soon need much > more redistribution, to nearly everyone: > I've been wondering about the role of technological change and the accompanying affects on the labor market and the general welfare of society. With the apparently increasing churn in job tenure, it will no doubt be more and more difficult for many to get a solid foot in the middle class as things currently stand in a country like the US. This is not just bad for those out of work but also for society. Having people loiter around, unable to find work, or in menial positions that do not lead anywhere, does no one any good. If one accepts this premise, there seems to be a choice between a less flexible labor market, on one hand, and a stronger social safety net, on the other (or perhaps both). I don't think a less flexible labor market is the way to go in a technologically advanced society. So I find the Scandanavian approach to the safety net a very interesting one. I even take a little bit of gleeful pleasure in the fact that conservatives in the US deride this general line of thinking as "European" (with all due respect to the self-identified conservatives on this list). I say "increasing churn," but perhaps this is mistaken, in historical terms. Eric
