So, what does the end game look like?

We are racing towards a time when conventional economic policies result in the exact opposite of what is intended. Ultimately, the disruptive effect of substituting machine labor for human labor is to decouple the labor supply/demand curve from consumption. Humans without income can’t stimulate demand for the production of goods and services.

When that happens, capitalism will no longer function as intended. Instead of being the best of a bad collection of economic tools, it will become an obstacle to needed socioeconomic transformation.

This is a brand new game with completely different rules. There is no room for dogmatic, ideological thinking if we hope to cross this bridge.

Conventional wisdom tells us that “work” and “income” are inextricably linked. Furthermore that without work, humans are a ship adrift having no direction, purpose or value. The social “safety nets” we create for those who are less than “productive” are inadequate, demeaning and rife with unintended consequences.

Our new reality is that work and income increasingly are disconnected. If we can accept the idea that the value of human endeavors cannot and should not be measured by the size of a paycheck or financial portfolio we have a chance to avoid social collapse.

After all, the wealthiest among us are examples of what can be accomplished when humans no longer are constrained by having to “make ends meet”. They are free from moment to moment to contribute their best selves without the constraints of scarcity limiting their scope. Some retreat, some coast, but others embrace the fire in their soul and strive every day to make the world a better place for everyone.

Imagine what we could accomplish if all of humanity could live that way.

Time for a new paradigm.