Some time ago, I received a comment from someone newly-introduced to Copiosis: “If basic necessities are free of charge,” He wrote. “Do you think a high NBR will still motivate people to do stuff that no one wants to do???
It’s a legitimate question.
In the early transition stages, high NBR rewards will motivate people. Some people will of course enjoy life living just on necessities and those people who were previously doing shitty work will give that up work for the basic necessity life.
But not every one of them. Also there will be various periods where these people will want to decompress from doing those shitty jobs all those years. They will want to enjoy the break necessity provision allows them. I don’t blame them for that. I would want such a break too.
But…those people will not be able to get the luxuries they want: cable tv might be a luxury for example. Going to the movies might be too. Listening to XM satellite radio might be as well, as might be a new pair of the jeans they are used to or some of the food they are used to that are not categorized as necessities….going to a sports game will require NBR probably. Drinking alcohol might…They will want the very cool luxuries others are making that haven’t been made before too. That will encourage some of these people to do OTHER work instead of the work they were doing. But some may go back to doing the work they didn’t like to do….temporarily…because it is familiar.
Now think about something: these people were making crappy money doing crappy jobs. They could barely afford things when they were doing those jobs before. So let’s say 60% of them quit.
The other 40% might still do the work for some time because they don’t want to be bored. They also may have no other immediate alternatives. Not because there won’t be any, but because they may not be qualified, or may not be aware of them, or some other similar reason. Some of them may not have the mindset to identify alternatives. They’re used to the work and while it sucks, it’s better than being bored. So in the meantime, they would see that their work, which was before paying minimum wage, now, because 60% of the people quit, rewards them far more in NBR than they were earning in money because of the scarcity of people doing that work and the need (by society) that that work be done (remember, this is an early stage transition issue).
So now, (seemingly) all of a sudden, Joey the garbage slacker dude, is driving an escalade,
and going to the premier clubs, dressed to kill because he’s spending his NBR wealth on things he couldn’t before. Where once he was an hourly wage, blue collar guy, now he’s a highly rewarded laborer.
Of course, he’s posting all this on Facebook and Instagram, so his friends are seeing this, including maybe some of the dudes who quit who, like him, used to haul garbage. Do you think some of those people will want to do that work again? Especially as it is going to be a short time anyway until they level up their skill/passion quotient to do something better? Do you think others not doing that work and seeing Joey’s “bling”, might want to do that work?
I do. How many? We don’t know, but it’s a start at getting this work done, while innovators and entrepreneurs figure out ways to solve the problem more efficiently, i.e. not having humans do it.
So yeah, some people will stop working. But boredom will quickly settle in, causing many of these people to go right back to doing what they were doing before, for lack of imagination. Some will find other opportunities aligned with their passions. For those returning to the old crappy work, assuming, many others will not, those returnees will be highly rewarded. And that will cause some of the others who left to return too.
There’s always the chance it won’t work at all this way. But this is the scenario we envision.