02-01-2018, 04:36 AM
The problem with politicians is the voters and their short term thinking.
This is really most of the problem. Technology is making all the old paradigms obsolete; the future will be here before we're ready, and we'll all still be paying off the infrastructure that used to be necessary. Some of this is by design, some of this is complacency and a refusal to embrace the potential of new ideas and technologies.
Library: a climate-controlled building full of books that could just as easily be downloaded. The social aspect (eg, a gathering place for community meetings) requires far less infrastructure than the media storage function.
Retail: merchandise can just as easily be delivered with drones, at least for the first 50 pounds. Larger stuff (construction materials, appliances) tends to be delivered already.
Menial labor: replaced with robots. (Fast-food executives have already penciled this out: a $35K robot is cheaper than a $15/hour minimum wage.)
Marshall Brain's Manna does a far better job of explaining this future:
http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
This is really most of the problem. Technology is making all the old paradigms obsolete; the future will be here before we're ready, and we'll all still be paying off the infrastructure that used to be necessary. Some of this is by design, some of this is complacency and a refusal to embrace the potential of new ideas and technologies.
Library: a climate-controlled building full of books that could just as easily be downloaded. The social aspect (eg, a gathering place for community meetings) requires far less infrastructure than the media storage function.
Retail: merchandise can just as easily be delivered with drones, at least for the first 50 pounds. Larger stuff (construction materials, appliances) tends to be delivered already.
Menial labor: replaced with robots. (Fast-food executives have already penciled this out: a $35K robot is cheaper than a $15/hour minimum wage.)
Marshall Brain's Manna does a far better job of explaining this future:
http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm