I believe you have a valid point here, especially in terms of government work. Industry knowledge and innovation is viewed as a commodity and there is little incentive to hire a few people who will creatively solve a problem, rather than a dozen people who will crunch at it for hours building something mediocre.

I do, however, question the premise of a living wage. While I do believe we need to provide for people born into poverty or who have disabilities preventing them from working, how can we adequately support a system that gives money to everyone and has machines working jobs that no one wants to work? Who’s paying for the machines or for the energy costs? Where does the government get the money to pay millions of people when its tax base shrinks as people choose to work less or not at all?