Robotic Nation Evidence

Concentration of Wealth

Reich’s Reprimand

Robert Reich's view of the concentration of wealth in America today:

We now have more national income and national wealth concentrated in fewer hands than we’ve had since the gilded age of the late nineteenth century. This poses a fundamental threat to democracy.

Also:

Throughout the post-war era, at least up until the 1980s, we had a very strong social contract in this country. We all assumed that anyone who worked full time should earn enough to bring his or her family out of poverty. We assumed that corporations owed their employees at least some duties, particularly if the companies were profitable; corporations should keep employees on and give them a share in the increasing profitability....

Jobs are less secure today than they have ever been before. More than 40 million Americans have no health insurance, but over 140 million Americans are facing soaring health costs in terms of their employer-provided benefits as the shift more and more of the costs onto employees. Retirement savings are at a historic low. And most of the giant baby boom is unprepared for retirement.

As discussed in Robotic Nation and Robotic Freedom, robots fuel the concentration of wealth. The trends we are seeing today are the tip of the iceberg unless there are fundamental economic changes to protect everyone who is automated out of their jobs in the short term.

See this page for a wide variety of concentration-of-wealth examples.