Thanks Tim, this is a great piece with lots of insights and ideas I subscribe to. I don’t know if we need two/three kinds of currency but we definitely need a new way of wealth-distribution like UBI would be one. I also fully agree with the notion of a new and fresh look at the economy and the labor market. Just as you hint at, I believe that it’s going to look a lot more like a decentralized, networked system. And I particularly like the notion of differentiating between human-made and machine-made work in such a system — be it via currency or otherwise.

One point I’d like to add, however, is the following: In order to make such a system work, we must not forget that individuals need to take a positive stance towards such a world (which they probably should, looking at it objectively; yet the whole Brexit, Trump, right-wing populism things happening indicate they don’t). In this piece, though it comes from a somewhat different angle, I hint at some problems of our educational systems. They a geared towards making people ‘good employees’ for today’s (or as I would argue: yesterday’s) corporations. A paradigm shift is necessary.

I recently spoke to my younger brother who is just about to take his Abitur, the German High School degree, so to speak. Though smart and creative, he is struggling to envision a place for himself in our world as he didn’t really get taught about it. To put it bluntly: Nobody really teaches kids on the possibilities that are out there. This problem will only increase when the transition to the world envisioned in here gains momentum. It’s always going to be at least a generational change. Yet, making it as smooth as possible needs to be a concerted effort and should start sooner rather than later.

PS: As it complements some of your points and because it contains some really smart thinking you might also enjoy this insightful piece by Ben Thompson.

PPS: On a meta-level I find it particularly valuable that such a piece is coming from one of tech’s most influential voices. It’s demonstrating that the industry is thinking about today’s concerns and not only reaping the benefits of their work without giving a damn.