It’s gonna happen. We have two paths we can take. One leads to a Utopian society, where machines do most of the work and we spend five days a week doing the things we actually want to do, reading, writing, hobbies, vacations with loved ones, spending time with our families, taking classes, or just about anything else we want to do that’s not too expensive. The other path leads to a few trillionaires doing whatever they want to do, no matter how expensive it is, while the rest of the world lives in poverty because there aren’t enough jobs and the government doesn’t provide a safety net.
To achieve the Utopia, everyone will have to get along. If we continue to fight each other we will be doomed. Our only hope is to work together to create a wonderful world.
To achieve the Dystopia, we don’t have to change a thing.
I wondered why the Jews didn’t fight the Nazis, so I looked it up. The idea that Jews didn’t resist the Nazis is a misconception. Jewish resistance took many forms, from armed uprisings like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to acts of defiance within concentration camps. However, the Nazis used extreme violence, deception, and psychological tactics to suppress resistance. Many Jews were misled about their fate, believing they were being relocated rather than sent to death camps. Others faced impossible choices, with families threatened and communities devastated.
They fought, but it wasn’t enough.
Fifty years from now, will our ancestors be living in autocracies ruled by cruel dictators and wonder why we didn’t fight harder? Will they wonder why we didn’t recognize the obvious evils and fight harder against them? People are already being dragged off to concentration camps in foreign countries without even a hint of due process. Nine to Zero Supreme Court decisions are now being laughed at and ignored by the current regime.
“All that is required for evil to win is for good people to say nothing.”
Stand up. Say something. Like our fine neighbors in Canada say, “Elbows up.” “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” Fight the tyranny now, while it can still be stopped. Don’t make your children and grandchildren wonder why you let it happen.
I want to reply to all the people who commented on my most recent post, but I don’t have a “Reply” button. So, until I figure it out how to do that, I’ll just post this as a new post.
Most people commented along these lines…”when you look at the current scenario in the US where the rich are not only determined to get richer by the usual methods, but by re-directing financial support from those needing it into their coffers, it would be enormously hard for the rank and file worker bees to trust.”
I agree 100%. This will not be easy. The rich will make it very difficult, extremely difficult. It won’t happen until we reach a tipping point where the rich have almost everything, and the people have almost nothing. The thing is, I believe that day is rapidly approaching. With AI, Robots, and Drones, most workers can easily be replaced in the next decade or two. Unfortunately, the benefits of the technology will only go to the companies who own the AI, Robots, and Drones. They will not willingly share the wealth. We won’t get more leisure time, but they will get more money. They will have the money, BUT we have the many. We can change society by sheer force of numbers. We can make the future brighter. They know that, so they simply keep us divided. That is their strategy, and unfortunately, it is working. Someday, though, when we’re really downtrodden, out of necessity, we will put aside our petty differences. We will stop with the nonsense of white people versus people of color, middle class versus the poor, educated versus the uneducated, Democrat versus Republican versus Independent, and young versus old. We will unite and win, but it may come too late, especially when the rich will control all media, and they will not tell us the truth. We have to start now.
A fellow blogger wrote that she passed through a hotel and there weren’t any desk clerks. There were six computer terminals where guests checked in and out, and there was only one employee there to provide assistance to anyone who needed it.
She worried what this might mean for jobs in the future. I chose to embrace the idea, feeling that AI and Robotics can actually lead us to a more utopian society, not a more dystopian society. To help me formulate my plan for the future, I naturally turned to AI, and here is the result.
The 16-Hour Workweek: A Bold Vision for a Better Future
Imagine waking up to a world where work is no longer the center of life. A world where AI and robotics handle most of the labor, and instead of scrambling to protect jobs, we redefine work itself. In 10 years, automation will replace many routine tasks—so what if, instead of fighting it, we embraced it and gradually transitioned to a 16-hour workweek?
This shift wouldn’t just prevent mass unemployment; it would reshape society for the better. More people would stay employed, but with shorter hours, higher efficiency, and more free time to spend on leisure, creativity, family, and community.
Why a Shorter Workweek Just Makes Sense
Automation Will Handle the Heavy Lifting: AI and robotics are replacing repetitive and technical tasks—we don’t need to work 40+ hours just to keep the system going.
Less Burnout, More Productivity: Studies show that shorter workweeks lead to higher efficiency. When people work fewer hours, they work smarter.
A Creative Renaissance: With more free time, people will write more, read more, and engage in art, crafts, and learning—ushering in a new wave of cultural growth.
Strengthening Human Connections: Imagine having more time to actually enjoy life, engage in the community, and focus on personal fulfillment.
Making It Happen
This won’t happen overnight, but a gradual reduction over 10 years—starting with a 32-hour week, then 24 hours, before finally arriving at 16 hours—would allow economies to adapt. Governments and corporations could incentivize this shift, ensuring wages remain fair and working conditions stable.
So the big question is: Would you support a future where work is a fraction of what it is today, leaving more room for life itself?
Drop your thoughts in the comments—I’d love to hear what you think!
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say you’re a billionaire. No, a multi-billionaire. What would you do? Would you buy a private jet? Probably. Who would you hire to fly the plane? Tom Hanks played Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger in the movie “Sully.” Would you hire him? No. He’s not a real pilot. You would hire someone with a pilot’s license. You could hire Tom Cruise who played Lieutenant/Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the movie “Top Gun.” He actually does have a pilot license, but he is the exception to the rule. Most actors are actors, not the role they are playing.
If you needed surgery, would you hire Alan Alda, who played Dr. Hawkeye Pierce in “M*A*S*H” from 1972 through 1983? Or maybe Hugh Laurie who played Dr. Gregory House in “House” from 2004 through 2012, or Richard Chamberlain, who played Dr. Kildare in “Dr. Kildare” from 1961 through 1966, or George Clooney, who played Dr. Doug Ross in “ER” from 2000 through 2009? No, you would find a real surgeon, one who actually went to medical school and practiced surgery.
If you had legal problems, would you want Raymond Burr defending you. He played Perry Mason in “Perry Mason” from 1957 through 1966 and never lost a case, at least not until “The Case of the Terrified Typist.” James Spader was terrific as Attorney Alan Shore in “Boston Legal” from 2004 through 2008, but in real life, he never passed the bar. If you needed a lawyer, you would hire an experienced lawyer.
Jane Withers played Josephine the Plumber in Comet ads from the 1960s through the early 1970s, but if your gold toilet was overflowing, you would call a real plumber. If you needed other home improvements you probably wouldn’t call Tim Allen, even though he played Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor on “Home Improvements” from 1991-1999.
If you bought a major league baseball team it is unlikely that your starting pitcher would be Charlie Sheen, even though he played Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn in “Major League.” Kevin Costner played “Crash” Davis in “Bull Durham,” and he pitched a perfect game in “For Love of the Game,” but he probably wouldn’t make your team either. It’s also unrealistic to think that you would have Robert Redford in the lineup, even though he played Roy Hobbs in “The Natural.” It’s also quite unlikely that you would have Tom Hanks manage the team, even though he did a swell job as Jimmy Dugan in “A League of Their Own.” If you did hire these guys instead of professional athletes, you might learn the hard way that “there’s no crying in baseball.”
If you chose to buy a football team, Cuba Gooding Jr. would probably not make the team, no matter how much money you showed him, even though he played well as Rod Tidwell in “Jerry Maguire.” Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds both played star quarterbacks in two different versions of “The Longest Yard,” but neither of them would start on your team, unless you didn’t care about winning.
If you wanted to sign a prize fighter, I’m sure you would want somebody with more real ring experience than Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Will Smith or Hilary Swank, even though they put in many hours as Rocky Balboa, Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali and Maggie Fitzgerald in the movies.
The list of famous people you wouldn’t hire could go on and on. In just about every case you would hire a professional, instead. Maybe, you might make an exception and hire Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson as bartenders, but otherwise, you would stick to people who do the job in real life, not actors. If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, you’re not going to call Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd unless you need a laugh.
My favorite TV President is Martin Sheen who appeared as President Josiah Bartlet in “The West Wing” from 1999 through 2006, and my favorite movie President is Michael Douglas who played President Andrew Shepherd in “The American President.” Kevin Klein was also a great substitute President in Dave, but I wouldn’t vote for any one of these three to be the actual President. They don’t have the real-world experience.
So, I wonder why 75 million Americans elected to the Presidency a failed businessman and con artist who bankrupted 3 casinos and was convicted of 34 felony counts of fraud, simply because he played a successful businessman in “The Apprentice” from 2004 through 2017.
earlthepearl137 