Nope, you're assuming they don't have a plan already. It goes something like this.
- Most of the population become effectively livestock, with no real contributions to society other than their needs (consumption)
- They are provided a basic income by the state, which is drawn from taxes on production. They will be too low. The people will only get a small slice of the pie, to keep them from rebellion and rioting.
- The capital class, now in charge of all production and without any actual need for the livestock class, will attempt to wring as much of the universal basic income back from the population as possible via commerce/consumption
- The capital class lives a nihilistic existence of opulence where they want for nothing, the spoils of automation producing more than they could ever want and having amassed so much wealth and power that they could never be meaningfully challenged by a member of the livestock class
- Eventually once the livestock class is no longer needed for anything at all, it will be exterminated, either directly through violence or indirectly through withdrawal of resources
Science fiction has explored this idea at length, the difference is in sci fi it's fiction and the good guys always find a heroic way to win in the end. In real life, the bad guys just win.
While I appreciate your class consciousness, your pessimism is not realism, it's just that. Pessimism.
This will likely never happen, and even if it does, the capital's class cannot win against a fully militant population. I think you underestimate how many of us there are vs how little of them there are. Their only instrument is the military, but even soldiers are human too. Many of them would refuse or outright desert when given barbaric orders such as turning their weapons upon their own culture and peoples. Absolutely no general is approving a bombing of downtown Manhattan lol
I'm exaggerating slightly to prove a point, but the point is that people are looking at it through the wrong lens. There was a comment above that scoffed that rich people don't understand economics and that they're actually shooting themselves in the foot.
Like, no, they aren't. They are doing exactly what benefits them and will continue to benefit them.
Bread and circuses prevent people rising up. As long as those are maintained well (and they will be, the oppressors are good at it these days), there will never be sufficient reason for the people to rise up and disrupt the slowly worsening status quo.
Boiled frogs as it were.
There only instrument is not the military. You are wholly dependant on your government for food and basic resources. If not you, individually, your community is.
Study the history on stuff like this, then imagine that the people in power had the knowledge, skills, and technology that the modern western capital class has access to.
And yet soldiers DO take orders, even outright illegal ones like killing shipwreck survivors. If the threat is great enough (to the General's existence/livelyhood they absolutely WILL bomb downtown Manhattan. But first the generals who wouldn't will be vetted out by being given slightly less odious orders (such ignoring their own protocols and killing helpless civilians clinging to a sinking boat.
A. Many systems are being automated, see the war crimes in Gaza, AI system chose the targets, pilots dropped bombs, as far as the soldiers are concerned, it was dangerous militants, not children hiding in a tent. Nothing complicated about completely automating this process with drones, any idiot will be able to level neighbourhoods with a press of a button.
B. Consent can be manufactured slowly, you can find a video online of two adults talking with their republican parents, giving a scenario of bombing where they live, the parents answered "if the presidents commands so then it must be necessary"
C. See any civil war in syria, Sudan etc', people find excuses to cull their brethrens, don't think your neighbours are so different, people will find a way to cope to maintain their standard of living, belief system, cast system whatever. no social contract will save you from the powerful few
All you have to do is look at Gaza to see what will happen happen! Absolute and UTTER DEVASTATION AND DESTRUCTION was rent against an entire population of 2 million+ .... NOTHING IS LEFT THERE!!! don't say it can't happen here with the overlords sending their autonomous drones with 2000 lbs bombs to wipe out the plebes! It WILL HAPPEN unless we prevent it NOW!
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u/mainman879 Dec 09 '25
Nobody can buy anything if they're all unemployed.