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From: yba@mit-athena.ARPA (Mark H Levine)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Drifting sideways into economics
Message-ID: <189@mit-athena.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 2-Jul-84 23:52:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-athena.189
Posted: Mon Jul  2 23:52:52 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Jul-84 01:29:19 EDT
References: <610@flairvax.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Project Athena, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 41

I think this is an important topic; I fear that the way we deal with
such questions is to let nature take its course only after we have done
our best to deflect it.

What about your number 4?  You seem to have left it lying there after
expanding on all the others.  A popular science fiction theme used to
involve the facts you present, and then chose option 4.  We go to a
shorter work week at the same wage to distribute the work to all, and
use the wages simply as an economic means to solve an economic
problem-- distribution of goods and services.  We abandon the notion
that wages are related to worth--they are instead only related to share
in available resources.

Of course you have a problem in allotment.  If you do not favor an
egalitarian solution, how about one in which wages are simply
proportional to actual value (the constant of proportionality is a
function of GNP and total population I suppose).  This preserves our
ability to focus labor on needs in theory.

One can argue that with the system of transfer payments we have, we are
well on our way to this anyway.  Biggest problem is that we do not
shorten work assignments to give full employment, which has additional
costs in social (real human) terms.

What happened to the notion of robots doing all the work while we relax
and pursue happiness?  Was it doomed ever to be a fiction?  Why?  Call
me simple, but please, do comment.

All the intelligent people I know, including perhaps myself, seem to
decide that there is nothing to be done or said, and become content to
let things slide all the way down, depending on the self-regulation
apparatus to set things right after civilization falls.  I read the
Latin letters of the ancient Romans with fear: they were complaining
about the cost of fruit and the scarcity of goods, about the mob that
had taken over Rome and ran the government while demanding bread and
circuses, about the legions not being up to their once proud snuff;
they conclude there is nothing to do but come up to the
seaside villa and relax.  I think I'll go to the beach....

-- 
yba%mit-heracles@mit-mc.ARPA		UUCP:	decvax!mit-athena!yba