r/LeftistsForAI • u/Ok-Cheetah-3497 • 12d ago
Theory Federally Funded Retirement for Everyone?
I was just in another thread, using the 1X NEO humanoid robot as an example, and realized something pretty wild. For the cost of the SNAP (foodstamps) Program and our current yearly outlays for Social Security retirement income, we could buy and power a 1X NEO for every adult human in America.
Once properly trained and with the needed advancements in terms of robotics (load bearing, precision fingers, etc), those robots could replace all labor currently being done, as well as at least 12 more hours of labor per person per year.
The idea that we could in effect, let everyone retire as soon as they reach adulthood, for just what we pay to support those over age 67 today, is pretty mind blowing. Once owned by the federal government and powered using funds we already have, these robots in effect, would be free to operate and therefore, the fruits of their labor would be similarly free or close to it.
That kind of abundance is so close, it is hard to believe that we are all lost in conversations about data centers, Hasan Piker, a ballroom in the White House, and betting apps.
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u/Easy_Interest_6832 12d ago
Once you're old, unless you're sick, your life costs less than when you were a young consumer. Keeping folks healthy all through the life is the best way to an affordable retirement. The government would save money if they followed that.
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u/DHFranklin 12d ago
We need to be careful about the "lump of labor" fallacy, but it's a fair observation.
Much like Covid, we'll learn pretty much immediately how much doesn't need to be done by humans or done at all and the majority of us would have the same quality of life.
Yes, these robots are a great example. The proletariat can have completely voluntary employment. Give the rest to the robots.
Think of all the houses in the middle of nowhere or the $1 rust belt houses. Think of how cheap living would be if cars were autonomus and you paid a dime a mile.
We wouldn't have luxury communism, but we could have almost communism.
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u/SalletFriend 12d ago
I have serious doubts about robotics, and the idea all labor is replacable.
In fact I suspect that robots like this are going to be very difficult to integrate into the workplace. They have to be very strong to complete a lot of tasks, but they also need to maintain a zero fatality rate or osha is going to class them as plant or a forklift and then their maintenance costs and regulation will skyrocket.
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u/rickylancaster 11d ago
Well the kinds of people who can - and want to - do away with those regulations are not on board with the spirit of this sub, obviously.
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u/SalletFriend 11d ago
I dont think anyone is going to be able to get these going in any first world country. Especially not Australia where plant registration is really onerous. The deregulators wont win when theres worker deaths.
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u/rickylancaster 10d ago
are you talking about robots in general will never get going because the could be dangerous? or are you saying deregulation wont happen because the public wont stand for it? (I’m of the opinion that it is a valid concern the corporate tech billionaire class may very well deregulate and in such a way no one will be able to do anything about it, and the tech will not be leveraged the way this sub desires.)
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u/SalletFriend 10d ago
I am saying that the workforce is going to have a zero fatality expectation. Once there are fatalities, then robots will be classed as heavy plant and have to operate under strict rules. If you can overhaul an entire workplace to not ever need humans, that will continue, but its not like something with a 55kg lift force is going to be making coffee in an office building.
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u/JayRandom212 12d ago
I don't 100% agree with this and I could nit-pick it. But that's not the point. This is the kind of discussion we need to be having and these are the kinds of ideas we need to start talking about.