&gt; The reality is that as time goes on, the world&#x27;s needs can and will be met by fewer and fewer people.<p>The crucial line is when basic needs for life can be met by a minority of the population, and that line was crossed decades ago thanks to the industrial revolution.<p>&gt; This should be a good thing, but it won&#x27;t work under most existing economic systems.<p>Almost the entire world operates in an economic system that <i>assumes, as a starting condition</i> that not every person needs to work on providing for needs. That is how innovation can happen, and new industries can develop, like the entire entertainment, sports, and computer technology industries to just name a few.<p>&gt; Our entire economy has to change to accomodate the new reality that a significant percentage of the population will be unemployed.<p>There is no evidence that improving the productivity of existing industries leads to long-term unemployment growth. In fact the evidence shows that the nations with the highest productivity gains are also the nations that have the highest standards of living and lowest unemployment.<p>The secret is innovation. Nations with growing productivity can innovate and create new industries, which create new jobs to &quot;soak up&quot; the new population.<p>On top of this, global population growth is slowing and will basically stop--and maybe even reverse--within the next century. At that point, improving productivity will be the only possible way to continue growing standards of living.