KARL MARX WAS RIGHT IN ONE RESPECT (2)

List member Anil Kumar Nauriya writes:

"Keith -- So what, according to you, would be the implications of this change that is taking place?"

Keith Hudson replies:

We are already halfway along to the time when all consumer goods can be produced by automatic means, supervised only by a small meritocracy. The gap between a high-skill, high-paid sector in developed countries and a dumbed-down, low-paid majority has been apparent since about 1985 when average incomes started to decline in all developed countries. At the same time, their governments have been handing out welfare benefits in increasing quantities (even in America) in order for politicians to buy votes for their parties at election times. As a consequence, the governments of all developed countries are now in debt, some already seriously so and beyond any hope of normal recovery through economic growth (e.g. Italy and Japan).

One implication is that a massive inflation of the American dollar, the UK pound, the Japanese yen and the European euro must inevitably take place in order for governments to pay off their debts cheaply. Another implication is that several developed governments will face revolutionary situations (France, Italy and Japan come mainly to mind) as underclasses build up. Another implication is that most old people in developed countries will suffer badly in a decade or two through lack of adequate pension support. Another implication is that developed countries will be entering a new sort of medieval feudalism unless their educational systems are entirely revamped and the skilled jobs are shared.