Social diversity

--- In spacesettlers, "Robert" wrote:

> perhaps you can explain why thing made in china and places like that
> are so much cheaper. they can be made in the us with machines, but
> they are cheaper coming from china made without the machines.

Because the machinery is still crude. But it keeps getting better.
And because the Chinese work for low wages and benifits. But they
keep getting more expensive. The Japanese used to work cheap. Now
they get paid more than Americans. AND they have some of the best
machinery.

By the time we have the space opera setting (which is a good point,
and has _Star Trek_ remakes running around my brain), the machinery
will be generations beyond where it is today. Even if we don't have
human-level AI, we will have machines that do most jobs better than
even the best people, and those few jobs left for people will be stuff
you wouldn't set a slave to... and even that will be done by machines
in another few decades after that.