Jobs Suck, But Not Because of Automation

Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss why jobs are getting worse because the economy’s slowing down, not because technology is speeding up, and why that requires a vision of post-scarcity centered around human relationships instead of technological change.

Aaron Benanav is an economic historian and social theorist. He is a post-doctoral researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin and author of “Automation and the Future of Work.” Follow Aaron on Twitter as @abenanav.

• Prop 22 passed in California, stopping gig workers from becoming employees
• Paris explains the limits of a basic income, how Aaron’s book helps us think about the future, and the problems with luxury communism
• Aaron explains why automation isn’t wiping out jobs
• Aaron’s science fiction reading list: “The Dispossessed,” “The Word for World is Forest,” and “Always Coming Home” by Ursula K. Le Guin; “Red Star” by Alexander Bogdanov; “Hard to be a God” and “Noon: 22nd Century” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky; “News from Nowhere” by William Morris; “Looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy; “The Conquest of Bread” by Peter Kropotkin; “Trouble on Triton” by Samuel R. Delaney; “Star Maker” by Olaf Stapledon; and “Utopia” by Thomas Moore.

• Chatbots Won’t Take Many Jobs w/ Aaron Benanav
• Robots Aren’t the Solution to Elder Care w/ James Wright
• The Argument for Half-Earth Socialism w/ Drew Pendergrass & Troy Vettese
• The Poorly Paid Workers Powering Automation w/ Phil Jones