FavreFan wrote:
I think you guys are missing my point. Yes, the ultra rich will always live significantly better than the poor. But poor is a relative term. Think about it this way. A guy making $25,000 a year is considered poor in our country today. Yet that same person lives 100x more comfortably than the richest person in the world lived in 1900, all due to surplus and technological upgrades. The same will hold true in the future. A poor person in 2200 will live better than Bill Gates does today.
The interesting thing too is that the benefits of being rich go down as technology and cost of living decrease. For example, air conditioning used to be just for rich people. The technology improved to the point that most people who want it can get it. Computers used to be the same way as did just about every major piece of technology.
Now, imagine a world where pretty much any basic need can be 3d printed, you don't have to own a car and instead you can just summon one with your phone, and your groceries are delivered within 30 minutes by drone. You and him have the same access to that and the costs are so low that you and him can each have as much as you want. It will be like people now that aren't jealous because Bill Gates has air conditioning. The margins between you get smaller and smaller.
Which then gets to the idea of the leisure economy. That becomes the one way to spend money when all of your basic needs are cheap. It also is hard to automate since human experience matters much more in those types of things compared to getting a cab. Also, you are working less so you have more time to enjoy yourself so more businesses can operate those types of things both locally and in vacation destinations.