ABSTRACT
Poverty, both absolute and relative, continues to devastate a large portion of the world’s population. A feature of the capitalist system is the direct relationship between work and income. As production in manufacturing and the service sector becomes less dependent on human labour and more reliant on new technology, society will need to create other methods for providing income to individuals. A guaranteed basic income is being discussed and pilot-tested in many jurisdictions around the world. This move to transition to a new economy will encounter considerable resistance, but as labour decreases and technology takes over more of the work world, new creative methods for distributing income will need to be created. This chapter discusses the implications of the invasion of technology in the workplace and the massive inequality that exists in society today because of the deterioration of the capitalist system. No matter how much wealth is created, it results in the wealthy getting wealthier and the rest either maintaining their present position or losing ground. As a result, society has never been so divided as it is now. A transformed world-system is needed to reduce the chaos in the present system and create a more socially just and sustainable society.
