Okay -- 6 A.M. Alarm. Shower. Coffee. Office. You answer emails, type a program, write,
build, design, make calls. Finally – lunch!
Do you have time today? Nope, gonna have to skip again – tight deadline on that report.
It's already dark outside when you head home and fall into bed, exhausted. You close your
eyes and... the alarm clock rings again. Whoa boy!
Work has become our existence – you’ll spend 1/3 of your life doing it. Though, that
statistic is probably higher for many. Overtime, late nights in the office, canceled weekend
plans with friends and forgotten birthday wishes because work consumed your thoughts,
your days off, even your “vacations!”
But what if we take it all away? What if all the jobs just vanished one day?
You’re not shocked out of dreamland from a screeching alarm – you wake up simply
because you’re well rested! The weather is beautiful outside the window, you're not
in a hurry, you don't need to do a single thing right now. Well, other than get a good
hearty breakfast in you. Sure is a nice day to ride your bike around town, and that’s
what you do.
People around you are happy and friendly. The birds are singing. This is the life! You
ride to the park, sit on the grass, and call your mom. You chat for hours – you have
all the time in the world! Why, sure you’ll come visit her this weekend! You eventually
end the call, head back home, and invite your friends over.
Marley, Susan, Kevin - you haven't seen them in months! Of course, they came straight away
since they’re not busy with work either. The get-together doesn’t end as it always
does, everyone heading home early because they have to get up for work tomorrow. In
fact, the whole city is celebrating this newfound freedom! The joyful crowded streets are proof
of that. The fun continues late into the night, but then...
Reality comes crashing down on your utopian dream…
You wake up, but when you go to scroll through your social media feed, you see there's no
internet or signal. “Egh, no biggie,” you think. You go to take a shower, but there's
no water. “It’s fine – I’ll just double up on the deodorant and cologne…” You
want to make coffee and some eggs, but none of your kitchen appliances work — no electric
or gas. "Well, I don't need coffee anyway. I got enough sleep."
Jobs are what keep EVERYTHING going. With nobody working at the power and water plants,
you’ve lost these luxuries! And it’s only going to get harder from here…
You’re hungry, and your cabinets are bare. So, you walk to a nearby convenience store
for a pre-packaged breakfast. But who’s going to sell it to you? How are you going
to buy it? Money doesn’t mean anything. There are no cashiers!
… Or security guards. The trip to the store turns out to be a hard adventure since people
are helping themselves to everything on the shelves! You somehow manage to grab a few
boxes of cereal and a frozen pizza. Better grab some drinking water too!
People are having a tough time. They’re already tired of the extended vacation and
don't know what to do! They’re looking for a job, any job for anybody! Do you need your
car washed? House cleaned? You name it, they’ll do it – as long as it passes the time! But
people will cease to be bored sooner or later because they’ll have to search for food,
and they’ll look ANYWHERE...
You return home and notice your front door is open. There's nobody inside now, but the
place is ransacked. If you thought your kitchen cabinets were bare before, now they’re totally
empty! And the pantry. You start to call the police. Oh yeah, the phone doesn't work. And
the police don't exist anymore! Before, you didn't like to wake up in the morning because
you didn't want to go to the office. But now, you're afraid to wake up because you don't
know what the day brings! So, you pack a bag and go to your parents’ farm.
You ride your bike along the long streets, the weight of your backpack bearing down.
A car would be nice for this trip, but your tank is empty and gas stations are out of
the question. Suddenly the front tire goes flat. As soon as you stop, dozens of people
surround you. They offer you help in every form. "I'll replace the wheel for just a couple
of apples!" "Bike chain problems? I have oil to trade!" "I have a pump. The wheel will
be like new!” They surround you like zombies. You don't know what to do, so you throw the
bike down and run away.
You're hiding in the nearest alley. A stranger approaches. "Pst, I saw what happened. I suppose
you need a new bike? I'll give you one in exchange for your backpack. Deal?" You decide
to trust this guy and follow him. You come to some abandoned warehouse. Much to your
surprise, tons of people are working inside – talking on the phone, typing something
on the computer, a woman is writing some formulas on a whiteboard. It seems everyone is busy
with a job here. How is this possible?
The stranger explains that this place is the last refuge for real workaholics. They come
here to make up for their loss somehow. Of course, there are no jobs at all after the
global crisis, so these people are pretending to work. That’s when you notice the computer
screens are black, the phones aren’t hooked into the wall, the woman erases the formulas
on the board and starts writing new ones. The stranger admits that he doesn't have a
bike for you. He's just a former sales assistant and felt the need to offer you a deal you
can’t refuse. You're tempted by the thought of staying here and doing some “work”
too, but common sense wins, and you leave.
Society as a whole seems to follow suit, but it takes years to adjust. A world without
jobs that pay salaries that are spent on buying things from salespeople in a store – all
gone. The cities smell rancid without waste services to collect all the garbage. No wonder
people head to the countryside and live off the land, try to be self-sufficient. They
fish, raise livestock, grow fruits and vegetables on their own – just like you and your parents
on the farm.
As for anything that resembles an economy, it’s based on trading goods and services.
Sounds like a typical economy, but the difference is that there’s no money in this world – those
old pieces of paper have become relics. Want to “buy” fish from a neighbor? Give them
what they might need at the moment, maybe an equal value of potatoes? Need a helping
hand on the farm or a hunting trip? You’ll have to do a favor for that person as well.
As soon as people start getting used to this lifestyle, they devote more time to themselves.
One person discovers they have the talent of a musician, another has found their inner
artist. Concerts and galleries pop up everywhere. Over time, people began to serve power plants,
so electricity reappears. The same goes for water supply. Big cities began to fill with
residents.
Everyone starts working again. But not for money. No, now it’s to unleash potential,
for the sake of pleasure… and familiar luxuries. The economy recovers over time.
And as time passes, so does the nature of who’s doing what. Or, that is, what’s
doing what. Self-driving cars carry out all transportation, drones make deliveries faster
than any human ever could. Cleaning, cooking, packing food, and selling goods – all done
by robots. Artificial intelligence replaces bank tellers, customer service representatives,
IT specialists, even hotel receptionists. You can actually find stories written by AI
online! Yeah, this future is closer than you think. So what could it look like?...
You wake up in your apartment, the sound of hunger gurgling in your belly. But breakfast
is already waiting for you when you walk into the kitchen. Your house is sparkling clean
as well. All thanks to robots. So what’s on the agenda today? Another great day of
hanging out with friends, playing video games, watching your favorite shows (the cast is
made up of androids, of course!) No human works in this world – there’s no need!
Robots do everything!
But… maybe humans have become too dependent on them? That’s your first thought when
your self-driving moped malfunctions and takes you to some unknown place way out of the city.
Or, perhaps it wasn’t so accidental? Maybe your moped is tired of hauling you to and
fro – what if it’s started to think for itself??? There could come a day when robots
realize humans no longer run the world, so what’s the point in serving them?
Hmm, a jobless world in which we have to live off the land, or a sci-fi future with a work
force made entirely of robots that will rise against us – hmm, some food for thought.
Hey, just having some fun here! Something tells me that humanity will find a perfect
balance between honest fulfilling work and automation!
If you learned something new today or had a good time on this fantastical journey, then
give the video a like and share it with a friend! Just click to the left or right to
check out these other cool videos, and stay on the Bright Side of life!