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http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/elon...bs-government-will-have-to-pay-your-wage.html
In the end, we will only be spending money for things we want (not need). There will be less stress to perform and compete to meet our basic needs since we will have the replicator. However, power will not be easily relinquished. For example, if all housing is provided for us, what happens to people who own land? Will the government just buy all of them out? Will they agree to even do this since money will be worth less since 98% of things we need are either provided for or can be created in our homes? What about patents? Are all of those bought out by the government as well? Can't create an apple if company xyz owns it.
Musk is probably right, in a millennia or two everything will probably be automated and we won't have to work. However, trying to put the cart before the horse will only hurt our progress. In order to get to this future, we need competition and innovation. Having a populace completely dependent on the government now via welfare and/or permanently stuck in low paying wage jobs could threaten such a future.Computers, intelligent machines, and robots seem like the workforce of the future. And as more and more jobs are replaced by technology, people will have less work to do and ultimately will be sustained by payments from the government, predicts Elon Musk, the iconic Silicon Valley futurist who is the founder and CEO of SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX.
According to Musk, there really won't be any other options.
"There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation," says Musk to CNBC. "Yeah, I am not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen."
In a country with universal basic income, each individual gets a regular check from the government. Switzerland considered instituting a universal basic income of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2578) a month this summer. Voters ultimately rejected the plan, but it sparked a broad, global conversation.
Also this summer, President Obama addressed the idea of a universal basic income in an interview with the Director of MIT's Media Lab, Joi Ito, and Scott Dadich, editor in chief of WIRED: "Whether a universal income is the right model — is it gonna be accepted by a broad base of people? — that's a debate that we'll be having over the next 10 or 20 years."
For example, in the future, semi-trailer trucks will be able to drive themselves. And though that won't become the status quo for a while, it will mean that there won't be a need for quite as many truck drivers, says Musk.
In the end, we will only be spending money for things we want (not need). There will be less stress to perform and compete to meet our basic needs since we will have the replicator. However, power will not be easily relinquished. For example, if all housing is provided for us, what happens to people who own land? Will the government just buy all of them out? Will they agree to even do this since money will be worth less since 98% of things we need are either provided for or can be created in our homes? What about patents? Are all of those bought out by the government as well? Can't create an apple if company xyz owns it.