Apropos of this discussion on Charlie Stross's blog, the increase in technology that makes it possible to produce as great an amount of our society's material needs with fewer workers can be dealt with by:
1) Increasing the material needs of people (whether by planned obsolescence, fashion, or just a changed idea of what's necessary for a decent life)
2) Reducing the number of people employed
3) Reducing the number of hours each employed person works
4) Employing more people to produce nonmaterial things (which include things I think are good, like research, and things I think aren't, like bureaucracy)
5) Providing more material needs of people outside our society living below our affluence level
Personally, I think we should promote the last three and deprecate the first two. You?
1) Increasing the material needs of people (whether by planned obsolescence, fashion, or just a changed idea of what's necessary for a decent life)
2) Reducing the number of people employed
3) Reducing the number of hours each employed person works
4) Employing more people to produce nonmaterial things (which include things I think are good, like research, and things I think aren't, like bureaucracy)
5) Providing more material needs of people outside our society living below our affluence level
Personally, I think we should promote the last three and deprecate the first two. You?