dickblack12
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Dec 24, 2025 5:50 PM
dickblack12
28769
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15
StellarJay77
I really can't comprehend why businesses aren't more on board with UBI as being a thing. With UBI, most of their base employees wages would be paid for by the government through taxes (that they dont pay nearly enough of anyway). So they would only need to pay enough above that to remain competitive for the job type.
sadurdaynight
They used to be called "job creators". That was my maga father in laws go to argument. But now they're firing everyone to replace with ai. He doesn't talk about the job creators any more.
OrionJC
To be clear, they're profit maximizers. Robot employees can work longer and cost less (both in general and avoiding potential lawsuits, added benefit costs, etc./etc.). Robots (and AI in general) only cost capital, which they have all of, or in the case of AI, can convince others to fund.
EroticZombiePants
If robots replace humans, then humans aren't getting any money to spend on products, so they are going to have to create a bunch of robots designed to buy stuff.
WackyWavingFlailingArmTubeMan
Ehh I mean technology has always took jobs none of this is new
Sorrontis
guillotines and woodchippers. I can't wait
Velv3tThunder
See, they got it backwards. We need to build an economy where people don't need to work just to live, and THEN we replace the menial jobs with robots. Simple mistake.
Daliena06
LANCER's Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism™ pretty much went there, at least in the core worlds. Everyone's basic needs are covered, no ifs, no buts, no questions. You want extra shinies? It's written into the constitution that there *will* be some kind of gainful employment on offer to ensure you can get it if you want.
Guantanamobaae
AWS also laid off 40k employees in Q3-4 2025 in order to gain a few tenths of an increase in stock price.
GravyEducation
epistlero
no twuer words were ever shpoken !
cgt9803
Job cremators
staceyjorgenson31415
#WoodChipper🤞
MaybeIllDisappear
I wouldn't mind having robot workers if we could get rid of the billionaires and money in general.
Syovere
automate the guillotines!
d3jake
I can't wait until the phrase comes out to replace "job creator" to continue the charade that they shouldn't be reprimanded t all
TomWest61
Robots should not be in every household, but in every factory. That is the dark side of the oligarchs, who are certainly not philanthropists. In Elons view, regulatory authorities must therefore be eliminated. They are hindering him.
66gent
Whenever we get statistics like “Walmart will bring 5000 jobs to the town” do they ever factor in the jobs lost when their tactics force local businesses to close?
NeynasGhost
Of course not. Nor do they ever factor in the fact that the local businesses had full-time positions and Walmart will never, ever, let an employee qualify for benefits.
DeucesMongooses
Fuck these robots. I need cybernetics, my joints hurt
MajorasTerribleFate
Don't worry, the robot that replaces you will also have uncorrected joint problems.
n0n53n53
that's a lot of angry people vs just 3 guys.
Daliena06
Sadly, it's a lot of angry people vs 3 guys and their bootlickers who are obsessed with the idea that if they just deepthroat daddy's shoe a little harder, tomorrow there'll be *4* ultra-rich guys with them being the fourth.
thrashingcows
Redoneter593
I like this.
Pokegeologist
At the same time, us working people are shouted down for being irresponsible by using a windfall for anything but investment when survival and debt come first.
EvangelicalAtheist
It only works in theory if you use a delusionally, simplistic model of economics.
makeamericasmartagain9000
Nobody should be a billionaire in the first place. The robots are coming either way, but companies should pay a robot tax that in turn helps people reduce their working time or pay for a social security net. We have to figure out how we want to deal with that transition fast.
dannnen3
They are black holes for a nation's taxes and capital
AZJackeen
As somebody who works with robots, I can tell you it won't work. Robots are fucking useless.
IconicM
You know that Star Trek future everyone wants where there's no poverty? That's entitely predicated on being able to literally create food out of thin air without human labor. Automation is a good thing.
OrionJC
The replicators only show up in TNG. They still dealt with real food before that. One of a lot of folks favorite TOS episodes, Trouble With Tribbles, revolves around a grain shipment. Automation can certainly be a good thing. But what is referenced in this post and what we're seeing today is more about automation for the sake of increasing stock prices, not helping out the masses.
IconicM
Star Trek: Enterprise had "protein resequencers" and TOS had food synthesizers.
EroticZombiePants
Also, remember the World went much deeper into shit before they even got to the point of things improving for everyone.
PraiseThePook
Remember, AI and robots aren't the problem. It's these idiots.
jtthemediocre
I want to see a rogue programmer write some code that makes these robots take a 20 minute shit at the beginning of the shift, just like me at work.
thotterpop
I wanna see a robot accidentally **** Elon when he's giving a tour on live news. Can a programmer set that up?
Daliena06
It'd be some impressive code to be giving them biological functions.
NeynasGhost
Could do like I've done now and then, just go lock themselves in the bathroom to dick around on the internet for a few minutes because that's the only place you can get peace from both customers and coworkers. Incredible for my sanity AND performance but I'm not telling my boss I do it lol
quasarvoyager2
I guess you've never supported a bunch of Windows Servers, they routinley shit themselves and I don't even have to get copilot to create some vibe code to do it.
EroticZombiePants
Beginning? The proper time is shortly after your lunch break.
jtthemediocre
I get paid breaks. I poop when I want.
EroticZombiePants
Why use the paid breaks to poop if you can get away with using the paid works?
jtthemediocre
That's the neat part. I'm always on break.
Glitterfartjuice
Thousands of lifetimes worth of income and wealth cannot be responsibly managed by one person. That much wealth is too important to society to allow one person to hoard it.
Lostarchitorture
Someone has to make the robots. Someone has to ship the robots. Someone has to keep the robots in operation. Someone has to maintain and repair the robots. And workers should expect training and better wages as employees of these companies if these companies still want to generate revenue and profit for themselves.
cgt9803
Apocryphal story about the head of the UAW touring a new robotized car factory:
Auto executive: So, are you wondering how to get robots to join the union?
UAW head: No, I'm wondering how you'll get them to buy cars
Daliena06
The webcomic Freefall has occasionally toyed with this sort of thing. Intelligent robots are a thing, and on the planet the early stories take place on, they own a significant portion of all wealth, since it was seen as more convenient to pay them so they could then sort out their own maintenance costs and also serve as consumers in the economy too.
And later, getting robots to join a union instead of working for free to push out the human workers on a space station becomes a plot point
Serqet1
They have to get to work somehow..Eventually they will need houses...
epistlero
don't forget UBER , wants to replace all their drivers with self driving cars
Clockworkdancerobot
They never were job creators. The CUSTOMERS were job creators. Without them they would have nothing.
MyGreatestFearBoner
And still no one likes him or his limp dick and Reich views. Sucks to suck!
Filanwizard
Money cannot buy happiness and Musk cannot even rent it. (an alteration from a Weird Al song called This is the Life. Lyric is something like "If money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it".
squelcheswetly
They just consolidated people. Homogenized. At the cost of competition, freedom, creativity, and local business.
nostradumasss
prilldomon
https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1cGMzN25uOHhvd2NhcHQydGU4ZjJkM3B4ZTYzZDc3dHp5NjVnMXBvNiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/QAqPBBoJxRLoI/200w.webp
meme2zombie
We have tried it, it's worked every time and even made more people into millionaires and the billionaires richer. But it closed the wealth gap and gave average people more freedom so the people in control hate it.
StellarJay77
They hate it because they are cowards who need to control everything they can so they can feel safe. Money and power is their safe space and they lose their shit when they can't control something.
cmsport2
I'm trying to think of an example in history, so I can use it when people doubt the argument, but I'm blanking. Do you have one or two I could use?
1stDrunkJoe
During covid and after 9/11 when the economy was tanking they gave money to the poors who immediately spent it and boosted the economy. These were both under Republican administrations. They know it works but it pisses off the donors and lobbyists so they go back to trickle economics until the next time.
meme2zombie
The covid cheques were a small scale one, and one of the Scandinavian countries just finished a trial run recently that's where I got the more millionaires from.
meme2zombie
Also lots of UBI tests have been done and were shown to save money and boost people up more.
I don't think truckle up has ever been done wide scale or long term though.
ThailandExpress
StudioDerpster
Why doesnt the left fucking sell this as concerted policy, dammit! I know, I know, Dems are corporate captured and the electoral game requires massive money...unless you have a movement
Jimmytheeel
Yeeeeah. That was the new deal. Tax the upper percentage, use that to put the lower percentage to work. It gave us the river systems, the highway and interstate system, bridges, overpasses, nationwide power grid, national parks, protected spaces, the public school system, and the highest rate of employment in US history.
Basically all the things that let boomers ...BE. and then they decided that was all shit and did away with it
ProCycle
They are in for a big surprise when they learn that robots won't buy their products.
fubars
an even bigger surprise when they realise that pretty much anything can be a guillotine if its moving fast enough.
thatsbadmmkay
I guarantee you they wont suffer any consequences from that. But WE WILL!
Colopty
Oh that's not a surprise to them, that'd be why the parasite class inevitably finds itself drawn to political power. Gaining control of the government is kind of the perfect solution to continue being a drain on society beyond what you could accomplish when reliant on people buying your goods or services.
StellarJay77
Also it generally takes some pretty highly skilled technical expertise that cost a shit ton more to service and maintain automation.
NotWorthMyTimeAnymore
But humans will when left with no other options.
ProCycle
Some will, but not the humans that no longer have jobs.
hamulusrex
They already know that. They're planning on not being the ones holding the bag when we all wake up and realize they bamboozled us.
Kingdomonsterdeath
Nor will they stop the mob that breaks into their mansion and drags them and their families out into the night.
OffTheGrid99
How’s that going?
MagicBeets
Well I'm sure robots that do are also on their list
johndoejersey05
That's probably why Zuk, and a bunch of other rich assholes, are building bunkers.
Filanwizard
and usually those are on an island or something so a posse cannot roll up on their bunker and start pumping water down the air intake.
KarateCanine
And there's not enough people in the 1% to keep the economy going... AND they don't want any of their shitty products.
BarryTheCyborg
And they kept people too dumb to fix the robots
KyleZombie
Once the 1% own 99% of the wealth there will be. They're right on their way.
KarateCanine
Maybe I was unclear in what I meant. No they can't. 1% of 9 Billion isn't very many consumers. And don't forget, the population is predicted to level off at 10 billion and then start contracting. And also, if 1% have 99% of the wealth, the 99% can't buy their cheap crap, or Teslas, or share their info on socials be ause they have no money so the ads won't matter as they can't buy anything
squelcheswetly
Not to mention not all of the 1-5% are interested in supporting the billionaires.
Dimension09
Let's just make a new economy with blackjack and hookers
Imallupinthebenz
You know what? Forget the economy! And the blackjack!
Dimension09
But paying for the hookers creates an economy. "🎶It's the circle of strife🎶"
Imallupinthebenz
https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NWIxaXRpZ3ZxcThoZ2hsM2xkNGxzaDBjenRjaW44aTloOGo2eXYwbiZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/rSCVJasn8uZP2/200w.webp
Lethous
They need to be reminded that capitalism's longevity is contingent on the ethics of those in power. Ethical capitalism can be indefinite. Unethical capitalism...well, see the history books beheadings of French and Russian revolutions.
Moral is, if you wanna be a capitalist, and keep you head, don't be a dick.
jasondeslin
Capitalism REWARDS unethical sociopathic behavior.
There is no such thing as ethical capitalism.
ALL profit is theft.
The CEO's and share holders don't create the wealth, the workers do.
Schlumpfi
You don’t need to produce for the masses if you have robots building the stuff YOU and your peers want. If the robots get sophisticated enough, they might need nobody at all. So maybe they can do all this on mars or so…
NeynasGhost
This is the origin story of the villains in Horizon: Forbidden West, actually. Spoiler alert: It doesn't end well for them.
doctorId
The ultra wealthy have little to no foresight, they think life is gonna be awesome for them forever no matter what, which is a great way for them to end up crushed into a cube at the bottom of the ocean
jtxyz
They'll just continue to do what they always do - borrow from each other to continue to keep the money flowing, while simultaneously somehow forcing the rest of us to actually pay for it
KinetoPlay
Their workforce is a cost to them, everyone else's workforce is a target to them. That's why they're all racing to be the first to automate. If you can eliminate payroll while everyone else is paying people (who can then buy your crap) you get to surge ahead of the other billionaires.
None of them are planning long term, they're hoping to get the biggest number and then die juuuuust before everything actually collapses.
3dartwork
But when impatient customers are suddenly getting their shitty products same day, 30 min delivery, or less than 2 days because of automation, Amazon won't go bankrupt
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Amazon's gotten so unreliable, I'm thinking 2026 would be a good time to cancel my account.
3dartwork
We do it for our own reason, but it does little to Amazon
royce32
alcamar
https://imgur.com/zmmsAld.png