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Comment by thewebguyd | Hacker News Reader

> Who is going to be buying the products and services if no-one has money to throw around?

The same people who are buying products and services right now. Just 10% of the US population is responsible for nearly 50% of consumption.

We are just going to bifurcate even more into the haves and have-nots. Maybe that 10% now becomes responsible for 70+% of consumption and everyone else is fighting for scraps.

It won't be sustainable and we need UBI. A bunch of unemployed, hungry citizens with nothing left to lose is a combo that equals violent revolution.

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The top 10% income bracket of the US is broad enough to include basically all US software developers, isn't it?

If all jobs evaporate, what does the economy look like when just based on interest and dividend payments?

It looks like Mad Max.

Pretty much yeah, I believe it's around $200k/year puts you in that bracket.

If all jobs evaporate, then only asset owners will have money to spend, everyone else is left to fight for scraps so we either all die off or we get mad max.

Top 10% of households are 212k. Plenty of software developers don't make that but if they have a spouse with 70k job, they are in top 10%. However, many software jobs are starting to be in HCOL so they probably don't feel like they are in top 10%.

> The top 10% income bracket of the US is broad enough to include basically all US software developers, isn't it?

I wish! My salary is a bit below the median US household income.

> Maybe that 10% now becomes responsible for 70+% of consumption and everyone else is fighting for scraps.

Or everyone else starts fighting that 10% once they get tired of scraps.

Or maybe the type of labor desired will be more comple, interesting, and valuable as it was when we gave up hunting and gathering for farms and as we mechanized farming and left for factories and factories and offices.

I posit that the consumption is the problem.

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