big tech's desired outcome is the capture of the majority of value currently generated by employment
quite how they expect capitalism or liberal democracy to survive this scenario I don't understand
there will be mass unrest long before it gets to this point
Maybe?
For most of history, the majority of people were born into rigid social positions with little mobility, owing labor, tribute, or service to elites who controlled land, resources, and political power. Personal autonomy as we understand it was rare.
As modern people, we see this backslide as impossible. Surely we'll fight back if this happens, right?
But what if we won't? What if we just make do, as we always have. Our ancestors adapted to feudalism, slavery, totalitarian regimes, caste systems - not just the beneficiaries, but the oppressed too. History suggests that people are remarkably capable of normalizing and accommodating to systems that previous generations might have found intolerable.
I don't have faith in the general public fighting back against this new wave.
> quite how they expect capitalism or liberal democracy to survive this scenario I don't understand
Bizarrely quite a few of them don't want it to survive. [1]
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment