These are just some thoughts, but maybe they're interesting to post here considering the struggles that many working people already face.
In short: I think the 30's are going to be a decade of deep economic crisis as automation will take over and result in a lot of job losses. The current system of working 40-60 hours a week is simply unsustainable and needs to be re-evaluated from the ground up as new technology will take over.
A lot of people who now work minimum wage or work in more physically demanding jobs will lose their jobs to AI algorithms that are being trained today. I know for a fact that robotics and AI experts are developing truck driving AI today. I know for a fact that a lot of testers are currently developing (and correcting) the algorithms for security, camera detection, etc. The first chatbots are on the market and are being used by a lot of universities to try and answer questions students or visitors have more quickly without any human interaction.
We are in the early 20's and all of this is ongoing right now. So I think it very realistic that within ten, maybe twenty years the first types of AI will be unleashed on the economy and, consequently, the job market. A lot of jobs won't require as much human oversight anymore, resulting in a lot of companies slimming down. I don't think nobody will all of a sudden have work. Someone will always have to be around to take over when something goes wrong. but I also think that, while most people agree this revolution will happen inevitably, they don't realize just how quickly it'll happen. It WILL happen within our lifetimes.
Now you could just argue that new jobs will rise to take the place of the old ones. True, but mostly thinking or creative jobs that require you to think or use brain power. And let's be honest here, not everyone is intelligent or has the right qualifications for such jobs. Simply put, there will be too many people competing for too few jobs. And while the employees have some power right now (as evidenced by a lot of the posts on this subreddit) I fear the pendulum will swing in the complete opposite direction within a decade.
That's why I think everyone working full-time is simply not feasible. Rather than trying to focus on a living minimum wage or good jobs I think we should start thinking about how we can make sure everyone has shelter, food and water while not having a job. Yang already introduced the idea of a UBI, and he actually did it in part because he's aware of how quickly AI is advancing, so I guess I'm a bit surprised that I don't see more posts discussing this idea. We all want to stop working and we hate the exploitative capitalist system, but it may be that within a few years we won't have to work at all anymore. Do we have any systems in place in case that happens?
Anyway, these are some random thoughts I had while twiddling my thumbs at work today. Please let me know if people agree or if this is the appropriate subreddit for this.