[extropy-chat] The end of work, the leisure society, and automation

[randy]

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 16:20:45 -0500, you wrote

>               I am interested in the concept of a leisure society and was 
>wondering if anyone knew of any major thinkers,researchers,or think tanks 
>exploring this concept and the cultural,economic,psychological,and political 
>ramifications of this idea.I prepared a short list of items I've read on 
>this topic and was wondering if someone could point me in the direction of 
>similar thinkers:
>1.)F.M. Esfandiary/F.M.2030--"Upwingers", "Are You A Transhuman?", and 
>"Telespheres"
>2.)James Hughes-- "The Politics of Transhumanism"-in a section titled "Pro 
>Automation Post Work Utopias" he mentions Andre Gorz -"who has been 
>promoting a political program for 25 years that embraces automation and the 
>expansion of the social wage." He also mentions that-"the movement for 
>universal basic income(Lerner,1994) has been growing in Europe and the 
>United States"


A universal basic income growing in the United States? Ah,
no.....quite the opposite, in fact. Outside of the American
Indian/aborigines, who do have min income and in fact a nice little
leisure society, life in the USA is moving in the opposite
direction--we are working more hours and wages are dropping for a huge
segment of society....  







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