[neilwilson]

It has to be the goal of society - assuming you expect other people in society to continue working to provide a surplus to support you rather than, say, taking Friday off. We trade lifetime with each other. It may take less and less lifetime to produce a loaf of bread, but it still requires some people somewhere to be there babysitting a machine. There has to be a mechanism by which you can give up your time for the benefit of others, so that others will continue to give up their time for the benefit of you. Even if that is done via the mechanism of public goods (clean street, flowers on lampposts, better libraries, community centres, active church, etc.)