You are correct... obviously science and technology have improved the lot of the ordinary person, and made us all much, much richer.
The main issue is that automation tends to hurt workers while it helps consumers. And since most people are both — they have to work harder and harder just to stay in place. Until we put in place a UBI and universal health insurance, pass overtime laws to shorten the workweek etc. we will have technology creating demand shocks for human labor, as happened before the Great Depression on farms, and has gradually happened in manufacturing, and is about to happen to white collar jobs and menial jobs.
In the 50s, a single man could support an entire household on one paycheck. Women didn’t compete with men for those jobs, but rather did jobs that now are not valued by the market. Automation didn’t make employers not need their employees, so they would retain them for decades as they built experience.
Today, we have two year stint— wait that was 20 years ago, today we have temp jo— ait no, that was last decade, now it’s the gig economy with no protections. You see where I’m going with this? Automation and outsourcing is once again putting people in a race to the bottom.
Yes, electronics are cheaper than ever. But some things like rent / land just go up in price, they need a UBI. Paid for by land taxes maybe.
Edit: funny, I am getting downvoted also, for agreeing with you
