One of the things that the right hates about the left is its top-down, state-led vision for the ordering of human endeavor. Even if we assumed that the state were capable of such far-reaching technocratic competence, we’d still shudder at the thought of such a society.
However benevolent in its intention, the socialist dream is de-humanising because it leaves so little place for voluntary action.
In any case, and as most leftwingers now accept, it is a dream that had no chance of becoming reality – except, of course, as the nightmare of communism. But even communism succumbed to the power of free enterprise, which has – up to a point – enabled people to realise their own dreams independently of the state.
And yet we must be on our guard. New economic forces are at work that could give socialism a second chance. Consider the following article by Noah Smith for the Atlantic:
There are various explanations for this phenomenon. One of them is the “recent entry of China into the global trading system”, which, “doubled the labor force available to multinational companies.” As Chinese incomes rise – along with global transport costs – this effect should diminish, but, Smith warns, “there is another, more sinister explanation”:
Obsolete as a horse? Perhaps. But before we’re sent off to the knacker’s yard (or to the burger factory), we’ll get to vote. And the more that wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a capital-owning minority, the more we’ll vote to redistribute that wealth.
Thus the rise of the robots could mean a new era of leftwing ascendancy. Only, this time, it wouldn't be about the state controlling the means of production, but, rather, the means of consumption.
Fortunately, there is an alternative agenda:
Noah Smith may not be a conservative, but this is, nonetheless, a conservative vision. If the spread of automation drives an increasingly capital intensive economy, then it is vital that we achieve our dream of a capital-owning democracy.
In the 20th century, socialism failed to turn us into robots. In the 21st century, we must ensure that robots do not turn us into socialists.