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Comment by throwacct | Hacker News Reader

Don't get me wrong, the gig economy is really bad, but unfortunately covers a big chunk of jobs. When this scales up (and it will), what would happen to these people and the economy in general? There won't be an UBI reasonable enough to deal with the aftermath of this reality (basic law of supply and demand).

If things keep going the they are right now, in less than 50 years (give or take 10 years?), we could literally see the economic landscape migrating from a capitalist society to a neo feudalistic one, where companies will basically control everything (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, are basically investing in everything, from health to food) and people just work (if there are still any left), just to survive.

Interesting times we're living...

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I guess I'm not quite as doom and gloom about this as you.

Population demographics are trending downward in advanced societies and the trend is worsening. Finding solutions for the reduction in low training required workforce is necessary unless you want to drastically ramp up immigration policies.

As the transition occurs, dials on immigration policy can be adjusted to help maintain a consistent/decent price floor on the jobs that remain.

Trade skills are flourishing and, to my understanding, are in exceptionally high demand. Some folks doing gig work will make that leap and will experience much higher quality of life.

These changes aren't happening overnight. Those who are unwilling to make adjustments will have their quality of life reduced. It's not sexy, but it is how the world has always worked.

I'm sure my comments can be perceived as callous. I'm truly not trying to be. I just find it odd that the framing isn't, "Wow, for a period of time we were able to get more jobs to a significantly large amount of the population due to innovation. How fortunate." since that seems as fair a take as one saying those jobs are being destroyed due to the same innovation.

> "Wow, for a period of time we were able to get more jobs to a significantly large amount of the population due to innovation. How fortunate."

Here's the thing: This is good for the economy and human development overall.

What we're witnessing right now is the opposite: Mega corps trying to control almost every industry, and shifting the economic and social landscape from a capitalistic society to a neo-feudalistic one.

The socioeconomic implications of this shift will be something humanity has never experienced before, since the endgame is to automate everything. If we get to that point, either the government seizes the means of production (I don't agree with that since this is communism) and distributes wealth, or the government charges nearly a 97% on taxes (capital gains, etc but taxation is basically theft, hehe) and we start living in a "Jetsons"-like society, or we get a feudalistic society (hopefully I'm dead wrong).

Is there an in-between?

I think you're dramatically underestimating the power of corporations in previous eras. The Gilded Era and the Reagan-Clinton years had their own versions of super-extreme corporate power, with long-lasting repercussions. If anything, we're seeing a relative rise in the power of governments, exemplified by things like EU bureaucracy, growing protectionism, and the right-wing backlash autocracies all over the world.

In the worst case we'll go back to where things were ~10 years ago. Not exactly earth shattering for society.

Gig mobility work is mostly doomed, but if we had to pick a profession to prune it would be high on the list. And it's mostly a young and flexible workforce. On the other hand, 3.5 million truckers with a median age pushing 50 might be something we should start thinking about.

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