There's nothing about automation that guarantees any solution for the people automated out of a job. The motive behind automation is purely capitalist - it exists not to free people from the burdens of menial labor, but to multiply the value of labor while freeing companies from the moral and financial burden of a human workforce. For most people, jobs - and the availability of jobs - are what allows them to buy food, clothing, medical care, etc.

>Granted, the transition period may be quite tough.

Yes, mass starvation, disease, grinding poverty and global political strife could correctly be described as "quite tough."

Although I suppose if you're idle rich, then it'll be a cakewalk. Just be sure to wear your kevlar when you leave the compound.

Most societies on earth now protect the out-of-work pretty well. There's been steady improvement in standard of living, lifespan, health in most countries for most of a century, to the point where the planet is in pretty good shape.

In fact its a puzzle to me why, with this going on, we see an upsurge in terrorism etc. Why aren't people content? What is it that convinces folks to piss away their entire lives on a big public stunt like bombing etc? It can't be their bad cable reception.

That's a good point, but in most societies, most people aren't out of work. The safety net depends on people paying in to the system, which depends on people having something to pay.

I think of it differently. As an engineer I'd use a control volume - draw a circle around the economy. Label inputs and outputs. E.g. mining, sunlight to produce food and energy, available land and water. The economy thrives if those things have a positive balance. The money is just a strange way of scorekeeping - imaginary points the people use to regulate their selfishness.

For instance the idea of a Basic Income is proposed once the economy has enough to feed and house everyone insensitive to the exact employment rate.

I'd support Basic Income in theory, but I don't know if it's politically feasible in the US. People are still talking about dismantling Medicare and Medicaid, and of course, everything related to Obamacare, even the parts that work quite well.

It's entirely possible the answer to increased joblessness here will be to tell the unemployed to go back to school, then raise the cost of student loans by some ridiculous factor, then not actually attempt to create jobs for them when they get out.

Then again, there are states where gay marriage and marijuana are legal now, so maybe i'm too cynical.

Yeah until the current generation in power grows old and dies, we'll continue to consider 'joblessness' a problem. Remember the golden age of science fiction, where the goal was to get everybody out of work in a society run by robots? Well, the closer we get, the more we resist it seems.

Your last sentence says a lot. Given our track record it's likely that people left without means of acquiring money are pretty much told to go fuck themselves.