The US experienced a generation of globalization before being hit with the reality that widespread and permanent unemployment was killing the Middle Class. But jobs weren't simply being exported. As our minds were being enthralled by electronic gadgets, other electronic gadgets were eliminating our jobs.

Oh, there will always be some work, jobs, employment for humans, but we're succeeding at innovation of "labor-saving" technologies to a point where we can see the possibility of billions being born to a permanent global vacation. The old warning about idle hands and idle minds reminds us there's already enough devilish stuff going on in a semi-em-ployed world.

How to provide jobs for workers and a decent life for the unemployed and the non-workers is a worrisome concern. Earth's population grows relentlessly as the need for labor shrinks alarmingly.

The three-quarter century experiment with Communism revealed it to be an embarrassingly awkward and inept failure. That hasn't stopped the Big banking, Big government central planners in many countries from resorting to the same failed system that's supposed to bring the workforce to bear, fairly and productively, on needs of the state.

The time may be near for redefining our concept of work, broadening our definition of what work is, and what kinds of contributions to society merit the benefits and rewards that society can bestow...and can afford to bestow.

We must, I think, get to a point where it isn't merely physical labor or hours spent in a workplace that determines a person's worth and value to society.  That is a carry-over from the factory system associated with the Industrial Revolution, and punching a time clock may become a workplace memory.

The "worker" of the future may be called "societal contributor," and his or her "work" may be works of mind, of consciousness--creative thinking, writing, posting, publishing, and disseminating ideas for activities and projects that positively, productively, constructively strengthen the social fabric, and add new purpose, beauty, and enjoyment to life that addiction's easy and convenience can't provide.

We may also, at some point in the future, redefine our concept of "the economy." Capitalism and commercialism has either focused on new and improved products that can be copyrighted and marketed, or on processes and intellectual property that can be protected for personal or corporate profit.  But, these may, in time, become a secondary part of the global economy. 

In the future that seems to be crashing in upon us, the economic backbone of society may not be new and marketable products in stores,  showrooms, and Internet markets.  While many fear that the world will be controlled by a single "new world order," there's a strong possibility that governments and economies could tend toward decentralization as individuals depend increasingly on computerization, specialized know- ledge, personal expertise, creative talent, networking, and on part-time and "gig" employment.

Instead of a global government, we may see development of a radically new Entrepreneurism reminiscent of the cottage industries of the pre-Industrial Revolution.  And in a remarkable twist of fate, a neo-entre-reneurism may have the same "death effect" on corporate manufacturers that factorization had on cottage industries two centuries ago.

The US government currently borrows approximately forty cents of every dollar spent, and as borrowing increases, so does the cost in increasing interest payments.  How long this practice can continue before debt and inflation renders US dollars meaningless is debatable--as is the question of how long the largess of present-day entitlement programs can be provided.

No doubt the government will see expansive new technologies as a way to compute labor and to increase both GDP and revenue. We might expect the concept of "work" to someday be redefined to include artificial intelligence, mechanical devices, non-human labor, and commercial ventures both undersea and in space...all taxed to benefit humans.

Furthermore, "work" done by humans may be redefined to include activities previously excused as voluntary and recreational.  Unsalaried activities that can be interpreted as adding to GDP...or to the well-being of one's fellow citizens, may be counted, for entitlement purposes, as part of GDP.  Thus, the "work" done by Scoutmasters, gardeners, school, church, and hospital volunteers, parents, hunters, fishers, hobbyists, etc., may, in a Kennedyesque way, contribute to the "common good," of the nation, and may qualify these "workers" for certain entitlement benefits. Or certain levels of benefits. 

So, someday, an individual's creativity might determine his or her worth to--and economic status in--society, culminating in a range of benefits from choosing, as "employees" of government (national, state, county, and municipal) to participate in enhancing infrastructure, schools, safety, environmental air, water, and soil, etc.. Or they might choose public or private grants for entrepreneurial ventures that would serve as primary engines of economic growth, employment, and revenue.

Global entrepreneurism, marketing, trade, exchange systems are already establishing a foundation and framework for an Alternative Capitalism...an Alternative Economy actually... that seems destined to become the world's primary way of doing business. Cybercurren-cies, with Bitcoin leading the pack, don't need central banks--or any banks--to do business on a global scale. They don't need brokers or Wall Street. They don't need governments either, though governments will either insist on "regulating" operations, or will create their own precious metal-backed cybercurrencies to replace the dollar.

I'm thinking we might plan to be involved in a type of entrepreneurship or private enterprise in which each person creates his or her own personal cybercurrency which can be exchanged with other individuals or with groups, organizations, corporations, and perhaps even with governments.  Who knows, maybe government will issue newborns their own unique cybercurrency ID along with their corresponding Social Security and IRS account numbers. 

All these factors bring to mind what the role of education, from Kindergarten through post-Doctoral studies, will be--and need to be-- in our future society.  The role of public education has been to prepare students to make good employees, but since computers and the Internet gained a foothold in the early 1990's, technologies have exploded. The explosion has produced uncertainty and concern among educators.

My cousin, Donna, an educator in Kansas, is one of many concerned teachers who wonder if the current curriculum and teacher efforts will provide the preparation students need when they graduate to the work that will be demanded of tomorrow's undefinable workplace. But the big problem for educators is the impossible one, for since technology is changing the landscape so rapidly, almost any curriculum is obsolete by the time it's designed and implemented. So, it seems to me that education workers will need continual feedback from the workplace, and be nimble enough to adapt to trends as soon as they're perceived.

Whether we like it or not, we are headed into a global blockchain identity and economy. We will need to prepare for greater transparency in our lives. And that means we'd better make sure we're comfortable with, want, like, and trust the governments that will be keeping an eye on the blockchain.