Part 2/6:
While automation promises unprecedented productive efficiency, it simultaneously threatens to eliminate human labor income. Without wages, where does consumer purchasing power come from? Traditional solutions like universal basic income (UBI) provide basic subsistence but fail to address the fundamental need for genuine economic participation.
The paradox lies in the fact that as productivity goes up, wages go down, and consumer demand dries up, causing the economy to stall. This creates a critical dilemma: how do we maintain economic agency and consumer demand in a world where human labor becomes economically irrelevant?