[insane_dreamer]

> if we have the collective will to get all these folks education and opportunities to do something else

I hear this often, but have not read a single explanation of what the "something else" is that these people are supposed to do (a "something else" that we aren't also actively trying to replace with AI or AI driven processes). Barbers? Nail salons? I think we have enough of those already.

[mattnewton]

I think that, basically, we need a way for people to participate in society beyond spending their economic output.

Or else we will have masses of disenfranchised and dissatisfied people with no incentive to keep society working.

[insane_dreamer]

absolutely; but nobody is planning for this or even seriously considering it. to the contrary, we now have a government that is happy to take away healthcare and food stamps from its working class citizens

> we will have masses of disenfranchised and dissatisfied people

I fear this is coming

> with no incentive to keep society working

as long as the rich get serviced, they won't care much whether society is "working" or not

[Rebuff5007]

How about nurses? Or elderly care? Or environmental remediation? Or dramatically improving student:teacher ratios across the board?

Theres plenty of things that are worth investing in, and can easily sustain jobs for people...

[Tadpole9181]

Oh, yes, everyone can "just" switch careers into difficult, underpaid, passion-driven work paid for with money that already doesn't exist, let alone in an economy where Amazon & friends rake in 90% of all cash flow and has no employees to pay it out to.

[Rebuff5007]

ICE got billions of dollars this year seemingly out of thin air, and they are paying up to $50k for a signing bonus. The manhattan project went from nothing to an operation with 130,000 people in just four years.

You really don't think we can just fund people to go into healthcare or teaching? You understand that there is no real reason for those professions have to be chronically underpaid and overworked, right?

[jemmyw]

Yes exactly - "Anything we can actually do, we can afford"

I would also suspect that more than 50% of the people working this kind of unskilled labour do have aspirations to do more, it's just that it's hard to switch because they cannot afford to, they're working towards it or they're kind of stuck.

[insane_dreamer]

We certainly have the money, but there is no political will to make it happen. I'd love to see the military budget cut it half and it fund social programs and more teachers. But baring a social revolution (which may indeed be forthcoming) it won't happen. That's the harsh reality of our late-stage capitalist society.

[insane_dreamer]

ok, lets look at that:

> nurses

nursing is a highly skilled job which the vast majority of people are _not_ cut out for; it's also highly competitive. Your average Amazon warehouse worker or truck driver is _not_ becoming a nurse

> elderly care

this would be something like a CNA; doesn't require the skills of a nurse ,but most people do not want this job (and also wouldn't be very good at it); there's a reason why a lot of undocumented people do elderly care in America

> environmental remediation

sure, this would be a good one. but who is paying for that? it's not a money maker, so unless it's government funded like the CCC, it's not going to happen. and given that work programs like that are "socialism", it's not going to happen in the US any time soon

> teachers

teaching, like nursing, is a job that most people are _not_ well suited for. more importantly, like the last one, who is paying for this? our government is trying to gut public education, not spend more money on it.

So, again, unless there is a _new_ industry that can provide a _large_ number of jobs, which is driven by _profit-seeking companies_ (because otherwise, who is paying?), it is _not_ happening. And so far, there is no indication that such jobs or companies exist.

So my point stands. This is _not_ like the Industrial Revolution or any other "revolution" (computerization, internet, etc.), all of which spawned entire new industries.