When I said "remove labor" it was in the context of my earlier comment concerning "human labor." Yes we are automating labor and that means removing "human labor" from the equation. The current system is dependent on human labor as a component. Remove human labor and this system becomes unsustainable in its present form. I wrote a book titled "Pardon the Disruption. The Future You Never Saw Coming" where several chapters deal with this very topic, in detail. (Still available on Amazon.) I agree with you that we are moving to 0 cost and I agree people need to update their paradigm (hence my comment that existing conflict between capitalism vs. Socialism will become irrelevant). What I do not find persuasive is a sweeping assertion that it will be easy. The level of uncertainty and turmoil we are witnessing all around us, in the current world condition, tells me it will be anything but easy. When the age of reason showed up during the Renaissance, it was not met with a celebration (which it should have), but rather jailing of intellectuals and the Inquisitions conducted in many European nations with witch burning, etc. While our technology has advance exponentially, our social and political institutions have not. They move like a glacier by comparison. My book’s epilogue quote:
"Humanity today is like a waking dreamer, caught between the fantasies of sleep and the chaos of the real world. We have created Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. We are terribly confused by the mere fact of our existence, and a danger to ourselves and to the rest of life."
-Edward Osborn Wilson
Thanks for a reply! Speed of change will be interesting to see