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Sorry to disappoint you, but there won't be a large middle class in industrial nations. It will be gig-based and there will be a big group of people working hard who get nothing and a small group of people who are extremely wealthy and disconnected.

You don't like Fiverr? Imagine that our whole job market runs like this in the future. The profit margin will be extremely small.

You need a website or a logo? Create a Fiverr task. You think you're a better developer or designer than those Fiverr guys? Then wait a few years and you will see that the performance and quality will improve drastically because workers get desperate when the pork cycle hits them.

- - -

I'm not dreaming this up - this is already happening! And even employees are used like replaceable commodities e.g. big agencies have so many applicants that they say to their employees: "if you don't work hard for that shitty pay, you will be replaced immediately" - the agencies are clear about that and demonstrate their power. It's soul-crushing and I've seen great designers who get exploited in those power dynamics.



It's not that I'll be disappointed, but that programming is my only hope.

I'm one of the lottery ticket winner, 1% folks. I'd feel better if things were more equal, but it'd probably be better for me if it isn't.


Ok. Now I'm seriously depressed.

I think I will head to this [1] again to celebrate our insignificance in the whole scheme. Due to the very likely assumption that the thing that contains the universe (and also is the universe) is not bound to time and quantum effects lead to every possible reality (because it has infinity at its disposal) this is just one of those reincarnations where the human nature gets in the way of social equality.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17559822

A link that expands on the middle class discussion and a George Carlin video:

https://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/04/middle-class-not-%...

https://youtu.be/XdH38k0iUgI


I'm certain that the phenomenon of a widespread middle class is bizarre in the grand scheme of things. Exponential functions don't generally have a bulge in the middle of the curve. We had one for a few decades and may yet again for another few. In the long run, it's quite unlikely that capitalism can sustain an exponential curve of wealth yet have a bulge in the "middle class" section.




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