We must rethink the meaning of work
by Rana Dasgupta / September 21, 2016 / Leave a comment
An exoskeleton robot operated by remote control at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Bremen. Robotisation will continue to eat away at opportunities for work—for all of us ©Michael Bahlo/DPA/PA Images
Read more: Are only poets safe from robots?
Do you think capitalism needs you? Your passion for the job, your unique insights—do you think they are so special they would survive a war against work?
If you do and you’re right, you’re lucky. But across history people have tended to internalise any long-term bonus as a natural right, until they can hardly imagine it being taken away. Many of us have come to assume that our economic system is obliged to serve up as many jobs as there are people wanting them. But it is becoming difficult to ignore the suspicion that its raison d’être has nothing to do with providing employment. And the consequences are enormous—not only for our economy, but for our fundamental assumptions about life and society.
At some basic level the classical link between the creation of wealth and the creation of jobs has been severed. In the era of high industry, all the world’s most valuable companies required enormous labour:…
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