A Worrisome Trend

Last night I read "The Manifesto of the Communist Party."  I read it years ago, but it had been a long, long time.  I was somewhat amazed at how many of the ideas promoted by the document have found their way into current theory of government.  Everything from public education to policies that promote the breakup of the traditional family unit.

Within the document are a few "gems" that are thought provoking.  It discusses the evolution of societal arrangement through time from tribalism, to feudalism to more modern theories of political and economic systems that we enjoy today.  It promoted communism as the next logical step in that evolution.

The argument presented within the document is that all such economic and political systems are designed to keep power concentrated in the hands of the few and the productivity of nations on the backs of the many.  It purports to resolve that issue by moving that power, through revolution, into the hands of the government by taking the resources of the nation out of the hands of the individual and placing them into the hands of "all citizens" through governmental control.  It is confiscation of wealth by those who hold political power, pure and simple.

In theory, there is merit to the concept -- especially to those who have been without wealth and power.  The trouble is that it doesn't solve the concentration of that power into the hands of a few -- it merely changes their face to that of government officials instead of private individuals.

The current trend toward automation is concerning to me.  It further exacerbates the issue of concentration of power into the hands of a few -- no matter under what political/economic system you consider, or favor.  It will become more and more difficult for a subset of the population to find employment in an automated economy.  Not everyone is suited to become computer programmers, or practitioners of other technology-based jobs.  The entry-level jobs are the very ones being replaced by technology.  These would include store clerks, fast-food workers, janitorial services, etc. -- i.e. low-skilled labor.

How do we deal with the loss of those jobs?  In my mind I see the classic science-fiction scenario of an underground economy of those who fall outside the system and live in the sewers and decaying factories of cities.  It isn't a pretty picture....