It’s (by definition) not labor-saving technology if more jobs are created than destroyed. The problem with “level up” as a strategy for dealing with it is that the jobs to be “leveled up” to are fewer in number, so it takes a much larger GDP to support the same number of jobs. A red queen race, or perhaps a pyramid scheme, to maintain employment levels. Or a constantly raising bar for workers (and race to the bottom for standards) if we don’t.
When the money is gone, the internet is free.
We both really have the same ideas about what the ideal world might be. Just like probably millions of people for whom the preservation of the earth is important. The problem is how do we get there. But there are two fundamental difficulties in implementing these ideas.
One problem is the power of the global economy. It is in the hands of some super-rich and most politicians, governments and banks serve it. They sit in many governments, just think of France and Italy. But the real problem is that the market economy is like a living organism, aiming only to grow. If a law for climate protection is passed, then the market economy is guaranteed to find another loophole.
The second problem is people. Most people are doing relatively well at the moment and many have the hope that it will get better and better. That’s why they’re not interested in changing anything. I compare it to voters who vote for green parties. That’s about 25%. These are the ones who would voluntarily abstain from consuming. Unfortunately, the remaining 75% are not interested in this. The same problem exists with the representatives of Degrowth and Donut economics. Everyone trusts that the majority of people will change. But that takes way too long, if it should work at all.
My idea goes a different way. We have to stop the growth of the market economy. The market consists of goods and money. If you take one of these away, the market can be tamed. Goods cannot be taken away, but money can. The advantage is that we don’t have to change to do this. There just has to be global currency devaluation. At first it will not change our lives noticeably. But if we no longer pay each other but give each other gifts, greed will disappear and then we will move towards the society we want. You can achieve monetary devaluation if you make it clear to everyone that all debts will disappear with it. This decision is probably much easier for many people than the decision to stop consuming.
The important thing is that this idea is spread so that all people start discussing it.
Greetings from Brussels,
Eberhard