Shangra Lai is near!

The best of our world's future Shangra Lai is near, when robotics and computerized technology will replace most human work, and unchain us all from the imprisonment of work---replacing what we have to do with what we want to do.   

Paid work is a recent phenomenon in human history only arising in the last 200-300 years, while unpaid slavery started in our earliest civilizations and co-exists with paid work in some societies even today.  Before work was paid, it was mostly individual or group subsistence in a sharing society. 

The challenge in the new future will be for humanity to adjust to productive use of leisure time,  

I do believe that without human jobs, a fairer sharing of economic wealth will result through guaranteed income plans which will necessarily arise to keep the economy afloat.  This will result in a greater equity and higher living standards for all and poverty, greed, crime, war, disease, etc. all will be eliminated...all part of our future "civilized" Shangra Lai.

As a transition to a jobless world, I believe that the work week, which hasn't been adjusted downward in 60 years from 40 hours per week despite the arrival of computerized technology and robotics, should be reduced to a level, perhaps full time work of 20 hours per week, to reduce growing unemployment levels and to allow all to job-share and profit from the new technology as well as to provide all learning opportunity to adjust to more leisure time.  Also the increased productivity of the computer age should allow pay to be tied to productivity rather than hours worked.

I am pleased that Elon Musk has recently stated that he too agrees that some form of guaranteed income is inevitable as technology steals most jobs.  

Musk states he is not sure of funding mechanisms for the universal guaranteed income plans but this is a topic I have given thought to, and a post on this site of my thoughts and ideas on the topic is being prepared for an upcoming posting.