Quote (Thor123422 @ 20 Apr 2021 03:21)
While intelligence does follow a normal distribution, I will caution you against using the book, The Bell Curve, as a source. I've demolished it many times and would be happy to do it again if you are interested, and also the YouTube channel Shaun has a 2 hour long takedown of the entire book that is incredibly well sourced.
Anyway, I don't think you are actually referencing the book. I Just saw the capitalization and thought I would mention just in case you are.
Oh yes, I didnt intend to refer to the conclusions drawn in that book - I just wanted to reference the well-known concept of intellectual talent not being distributed evenly. During the transition period, there will be a huge bifurcation, with one segment of society seeing their work in high demand, working long hours and simultaneously having to shoulder a huge tax burden, and the other (larger) portion being increasingly cut off from purpose and a lifestyle above the UBI level.
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The late sociologist Ulrich Beck (I took one of his classes in one of my minors!) wrote an excellent and prescient article about this coming phenomenon, titled "Revolt of the Dispensables" (original title: "Die Revolte der Überflüssigen"). With regard to the persistent riots in the French
banlieu in 2005, he wrote that these riots were a revolt by a new underclass of citizens: blocked off from a middle class lifestyle, blocked off from finding purpose or recognition via paid work, sealed away in destitute urban wasteland on the periphery of the booming centers of affluence and provided for by social transfers which are sufficient to keep them alive but chosen at the minimal level necessary to prevent them from rioting around the clock.
His core observation was that these people no longer serve any purpose whatsoever for society. They are no longer needed for menial or manual labor, at least not nearly in the quantities that these people exist. And because of the increasing mismatch between their skillsets and formal qualification (or lack thereof) and the demands of a post-industrial, knowledge-based economy, they do not even serve an indirect economic purpose (in the capitalist sense) anymore (by constituting the labor market's "silent reserve" which keeps a downward pressure on wages and increases profits or efficiency). These people are completely dispensable, the only interest society has in them is to keep them quiet at minimal financial and social cost.
Essentially, what snipa and others are saying is that in the wake of automation, this "dispensable class" will grow substantially and the question of how to handle them will become a lot more pressing.
This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Apr 19 2021 08:05pm