The new slave economy

While we rightly admire the magnificent cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome, we should remember what made them possible. They could excel in art, architecture, sculpture, literature, poetry and philosophy because they had the leisure time to engage in such activities. They did not have to till the fields to grow crops, to manage households, or engage in mining and manufacture because there were slaves to do that.

The much-praised Athenian democracy did not include women, foreign merchants or slaves. It was only adult male citizens who participated in it, perhaps one-tenth of the population. Slaves were property in both Greece and Rome, and most households had several of them. This system of slavery is antithetical to liberty and human dignity. In both societies they turned the wheels of the economy, leaving their masters free to engage in cultural pursuits and leisure activities such as sports and hunting.

Many of the monks in mediaeval societies lived on the tithes that financed them, and had the time to enjoy intellectual pursuits as well as prayer and meditation. The peasants working the fields had no such luxury, being mostly tied in bondage to work the lands and produce the crops.

In modern societies most people have to work to earn their livelihoods, formerly in agriculture, later in industry, and more recently in trade, commerce, finance and services.

As we speculate on the rise of artificial intelligence, it is possible that we are witnessing the transition to a modern slave economy, one in which the ‘slaves’ are machines rather than people. Some commentators express concern that the new machines will cause mass unemployment, but this could also be interpreted as providing a great extension of leisure time. 

Since the end of all production is consumption, society becomes wealthier when consumption is increased using fewer inputs of production. If machines do more and more of the work of production, fewer people will be needed to do it. With more of the good things we consume being produced by fewer and fewer people, there will be more time available for leisure pursuits. While for some people these might include entertainment, for others it will provide the means to engage in cultural pursuits and hobbies.

The emerging slave economy should be welcomed because it gives people more chance to express themselves through their activities, to do the things they like doing instead of the things they must do to earn a livelihood. Unlike ancient Greece and Rome where leisure was restricted to the few, all people could all become part of that leisured class, while machines did what the slaves used to do.

Of course, this changes if some of the machines acquire consciousness…