The rise of the gig economy shows how far we have come transitioning back to slavery. Effectively the owner-craftsman relationship of mutual dependency is being replaced with a one-sided day labor approach where the workers become interchangeable. (See quotes from Andrew Carnegie about this.) The abrogation of retirement agreements when companies went under while the execs pocketed bonuses exposes this even in traditional workplaces. So where does the reliable cash flow that banks demand when getting a mortgage? Or anything else? The stability of employment underlies much of our economy -- so there is more at stake than just the perpetual anxiety of the underemployed. With a universal basic income as a prop this might work. But if there is no social safety net to sustain the populace one could see a far darker future -- like the world of Soylent Green, perhaps.