Class Skirmishes

The Divine Mrs. M says my idea for ending or at least tempering the inequality in this country is too radical.  She wants me to state unequivocally that the poorest among us would use their new found government subsidy to chase the middle class dream.  Many might decide to live a life of indolence on the munificent $20,000 or so per year.  Many more might renegotiate the terms of the hopeless jobs they now occupy.  Since we are rapidly automating many jobs, fewer workers will be needed in coming decades.  How will the people who can't qualify or compete for jobs left in the economy at that point survive.   It seems to me we can either choose the model of the Roman Empire and use bread and circuses to keep the masses occupied, or we can use the bounty created by the machines who replace us to release the creative energy we so often sublimate in our dead end jobs.  As more and more people realize the gains in productivity are going to the 1%, the demands to change the social contract will become more vocal.  I believe the people who are now disproportionately vacuuming up the wealth are terrified that ideas like the one outlined above will gain currency.  Let the battle begin.  I certainly hope it will be a bloodless struggle, but history tells us the parasites at the top, be they the French nobility of the 18th century, the Russian aristocracy of the early 20th or the hedge fund billionaires of today will not surrender any portion of their spoils without  a fight.