[beat]

Yes, I'm well aware of all this, and thinking about it a lot. I don't think the 20th century "jobs" model will work for much longer. But I don't like the "We can't do anything, everyone is doomed" attitude, either. The transition from a farming economy to an industrial one wasn't just about new jobs. Our standard of living changed massively. We've gone from a world where 90% were illiterate and living in extreme poverty to one where 9% are illiterate and living in extreme poverty. We live in a world now where "not actually in poverty" represents near-universal access to wealth that didn't even exist for the richest people on earth - cars and planes, the internet, etc.

The next step, I think, is cheap universal energy, solar/wind + storage creating an energy supply that is cheaper and doesn't cause geopolitical resource conflicts. Near-free energy and near-free information is an extraordinary combination that makes amazing things possible.