<story><title>The Software Revolution</title><url>http://blog.samaltman.com/the-software-revolution</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lkrubner</author><text>I disagree with this:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The previous one, the industrial revolution, created lots of jobs&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;That industrial revolution caused massive unemployment in India, in the Ottoman empire, in China... almost everywhere that had once been a famous textile center. The idea that the  industrial revolution did not cause unemployment is an illusion that is caused by looking at only one nation state. But Britain was the winner of the early industrial revolution, and it was able to export its unemployment. And because of this, a breathtaking gap opened up between wages in the West and wages everywhere else. The so-called Third World was summoned into existence. You can get some sense of this by reading Fernand Braudel&amp;#x27;s work, &amp;quot;The Perspective of the World&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520081161/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687742&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=0520081145&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=1SNDA9Y3ZZY1RSP7SSE3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;gp&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;0520081161&amp;#x2F;ref=pd_lpo_sbs_d...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The software revolution will be similar with some nations winning and many others losing.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>api</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m fairly convinced that eventually there will be two and only two choices: universal income and a shortened work week, or such extreme wealth divisions that stability demands a totalitarian police state resembling the worst sort of comic book cyberpunk dystopia. Age of abundance or feudal hellhole. Your pick. There simply will not be enough economically viable work to sustain any system that demands labor to maintain cash flows. Automation will be too efficient, programmable, adaptable.&lt;p&gt;... I suppose there is a third option: an anti-technology crusade that bans automation to restore employment. But a make-work economy sucks, and is not likely to succeed in the long term.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Software Revolution</title><url>http://blog.samaltman.com/the-software-revolution</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lkrubner</author><text>I disagree with this:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The previous one, the industrial revolution, created lots of jobs&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;That industrial revolution caused massive unemployment in India, in the Ottoman empire, in China... almost everywhere that had once been a famous textile center. The idea that the  industrial revolution did not cause unemployment is an illusion that is caused by looking at only one nation state. But Britain was the winner of the early industrial revolution, and it was able to export its unemployment. And because of this, a breathtaking gap opened up between wages in the West and wages everywhere else. The so-called Third World was summoned into existence. You can get some sense of this by reading Fernand Braudel&amp;#x27;s work, &amp;quot;The Perspective of the World&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520081161/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687742&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=0520081145&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=1SNDA9Y3ZZY1RSP7SSE3&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;gp&amp;#x2F;product&amp;#x2F;0520081161&amp;#x2F;ref=pd_lpo_sbs_d...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;The software revolution will be similar with some nations winning and many others losing.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sparaker</author><text>Every revolution has its downsides. But i think this revolution might just give us a break through from boring tasks and create opportunities for creative exploration one that we currently have in very small quantity.</text></comment>