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1. Embed this notice
   Hal Pomeranz (hal_pomeranz@infosec.exchange)'s status on Sunday, 05-Jan-2025 23:24:25 JST Hal Pomeranz

   Automation has eliminated countless jobs. I suspect that there is no longer enough meaningful jobs/work for the entire population. But we tell people who are un(der)employed that they just aren’t trying hard enough.

   Unfortunately, the fruits of automation are being hoarded by a few ultra-wealthy individuals who were in the right place at the right time with a big pile of capital. But there’s absolutely no reason that the investments they made should have been taxed at a lower rate than any other form of income.

   Tax their assets. Fund the housing, food security, healthcare, and education programs that they should have been funding all along.

   All of this automation should be transitioning us into a world of leisure. End the artificial scarcity created by vast concentrations of capital. If we don’t do it via taxation, history shows that it will come via bloody revolution.

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 05-Jan-2025 23:24:25 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     @hal_pomeranz There haven't been enough meaningful jobs for the entire population for at least half a century. That's a very good thing. The bad thing is that we insist everyone do bullshit jobs anyway as a condition for survival to keep the extreme upper class in control.

   • Embed this notice
     tim (timrice@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 06-Jan-2025 10:21:13 JST tim

     in reply to

     • Adrian Sanabria
     • Rich Felker

     @sawaba @dalias @hal_pomeranz If the majority of workers aren't necessary, why isn't ownership aggressively culling their workforce? By far the biggest expense of most corporations is their payroll, shouldn't they be hugely incentivized to reduce it, especially if they could drop it by >50%?

     And yet, we only ever see companies perform layoffs when they're under duress. And even then, the layoffs are very rarely so extreme as to eliminate half the employees.

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Monday, 06-Jan-2025 10:21:13 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     • Adrian Sanabria
     • tim

     @timrice @sawaba @hal_pomeranz Because necessary for us and necessary for them are very different things.

     Most jobs are about policing who gets to benefit from the things produced, not actually producing anything.

   • Embed this notice
     Adrian Sanabria (sawaba@infosec.exchange)'s status on Monday, 06-Jan-2025 10:21:14 JST Adrian Sanabria

     in reply to

     • Rich Felker

     @dalias @hal_pomeranz came here to say this. I remember coming in to work one day at a large payment processor (where I got my start in cybersecurity), and suddenly realizing that most of the people that worked there could just stop coming to the office and there would be zero impact.

     Every department had one or two highly competent people that ended up doing 80-100% of the work that had value. It was literally a mirror of doing group projects in HS/Uni