Some jobs you can automate but not all. We are hard to automate yo. Yes no new young blood to replenish the aging skills but that's where priorities come to play. Right now people are crying poverty but looking down at those jobs. Do you want the fancy degree or a degree in what is available and pays well, many of those fancy degrees eventually join us when they are 40 anyway, wouldn't they be better off if they stopped whining in their 20's and just went the "low class" route to begin with making their 6 figures instead of student loans. We have a running joke in among us that we were told if we dropped out of school we would be forced to become dumb tardesmen yet we make sooo much more than a teacher or many other white collar jobs here, that is why these jobs are out of favor. Like the article I posted at the bottom, you pay as much to unclog your toilet as you do to see a doctor. Long term, are toilets going to be technologically advanced to self unclog? Some factory work will use more automation but some jobs you just can't replace.

Tech degrees are fine and we need them for sure but tech doesn't run on pixie dust and unicorn farts. You need energy as long as there are humans. If you want that tech, you need the facilities to process the raw material to make that, someone not a robot has to maintain that so it keeps functioning like a well oiled machine. That's why my job is kinda relevant in many setting, I'm a welding engineer (more complicated than that since I technically work 2 different trades in one as a specialized skill), it doesn't mater what the industry as long as it joins metal in applications that require high pressure requirements. A robot isn't going to build that or build the internals once in place to bring a refinery from a piece of paper to a functioning reality. Realistically, oil, coal , green energy, pixie dust, it requires some form of processing and my job covers just about all that requires metal manipulation cold or hot.

The world is moving fast into automation and high productivity but that will have other social implications with an increasing population and decreasing number of jobs. I bet you see the writing on the wall with blockchain too, that will cut a lot of jobs if implemented large scale. My job staying relevant or not I'm getting older and want to slow down a little in about a decade so it would be nice to have a hobby with a bit of revenue to compensate. Maybe I can eventually do something with my photography as I continue to upgrade my skills on my time off. I could always go teaching in my college when I get too old but I would prefer avoiding that and do something fun if I have to do a full on career switch. Why I'm thinking the nukes then call it a day come back and retire in the mountains. I hear you on a type of money that is going to last, hard to say. I think tangible goods is a way to go too. Why I struggle more with the crypto concept than the rest of you. It is convenient and has it's place for sure but also a lot of uncertainties.