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thinkinginpictures
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05 Jul 2021, 1:54 pm

The original idea behind technocracy, as it originated in the 1920s - is the rule of technology.
By that I mean that technology will eventually solve our problems.

However, for this to work on a societal scale, you cannot just have individuals who own the tech companies have a final say in how much tax they'd like to pay or else they won't deliver the technological solutions (that's how capitalism works).

You need a strong and popular government which has the support of the people and the will - and determination, to change society for the better. To actually do give technology a chance to prove itself to solve problems in society.

I'm not talking about communism though, by the definition of state-run tech companies with equal wages, but with tech companies essentially owned by the state and then hiring private companies to run them. That way, you can benefit from both the private incentive to invest some money and effort into new projects, and simultanously you ensure the company and the entire means of production won't just move abroad, because of disagreement with the government's tax policy.

The original idea of Technocracy also abolished money, and believe in the naive idea of humans doing work for nothing, and given "Energy Credits" to spend on stuff instead. That's too naive, I think, but I do think that some sort of income-levelled Universal Basic Income for everyone is a good idea (ie. for ever 100 dollars you earn besides UBI, UBI is reduced by 30 dollars in addition to paying taxes of the 100 dollars you earned, until UBI becomes 0, and you only pay taxes).

The idea behind UBI is that nobody should fear homelessness, because they have been without a job for whatever reason for a long time, and nobody will be forced into compulsory work-duty projects by the state.

The UBI will be paid for by taxing the technologies used in workplaces. For example, if Amazon hires a robot to do the job, that robot will be taxed to give UBI to the U.S. citizens. And Amazon won't be able to move to, say, China, because Amazon and all their means of production will essentially be owned by the U.S. Federal Government, but run by a private company who will enjoy the benefits of the profit and have the profit as incentive to push the (state-owned) company further and create new projects, business contracts etc.



ToughDiamond
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05 Jul 2021, 4:09 pm

I've always liked the idea of UBI. It'd be interesting to see what would happen if everybody was simply given enough for the essentials, no questions asked. Imagine the suffering that would be removed at a stroke. No more poverty, no more anxiety about making ends meet, no more need to live in squalour. Simplest way to pay for it would be by progressive taxation. There were some intriguing ideas in Tressell's "Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist" about providing decent jobs and pay for anybody who wanted them. I've no idea whether they'd be workable, but I'd be prepared to give them a shot rather than watch all the misery that goes on under the current system.

I don't know much about how technocracy works or how to deal with it.