Automation and the Looming Crisis of Identity: How deaths of despair in the US could portend a harrowing future, and how we can avoid it

Automation and the Looming Crisis of Identity How deaths of despair in the US could portend a harrowing future, and how we can avoid it By Ashley Heacock MIT IPRI Fellow @ CSAIL Summer 2017  MBA, MIT Sloan 2017  MPA, Harvard Kennedy 2017  Table of Contents: Intro - 2 Understanding Automation and Job Loss in the US - 5 Understanding Deaths of Despair in the US - 10 Is Automation Causing Despair? - 13 Should Other Countries Worry about Automation and Despair? - 15 What Can Be Done to Avert Despair? - 17 Capacity - 18 Community - 21 Culture - 23 Do We Really Care? - 25  We have a 9/11-scale loss at least every 12 days from deaths of despair in the US. The opioid epidemic is claiming more than 100 lives per day, and suicide rates are well over 100 lives per day. As shown in the map below, deaths of despair are spreading across the country like a plague. While we fear foreign terrorism, Americans are taking their own lives. Source: Map produced by NPR, Data and Research by Anne Case and Angus Deaton, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf What could be causing so many people to turn to suicide, drugs and alcohol? The trend in “deaths of despair” in the U.S. is affecting a certain portion of the population, namely white middle-aged Americans lacking in formal education. Over the past decade, whites comprised 90% of new heroin users and 85% of all suicides, while making up 61% of the population. While blacks and Hispanics have much higher rates of poverty, they are not resorting to personal harm in the same numbers. Whites in America die of suicide at a rate of 14.7 per 100,000 people compared with 5.4 for blacks and 5.8 for Hispanics. Source: America’s Health Rankings, https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/2015-annual-report/measure/Suicide/state/ALL These statistics, along with the 2016 election, made me wonder what story about America was not being told. As a researcher at MIT looking into trends in automation and job loss, I wanted to understand if automation could account for some of these deaths of despair and what that portends for the future. America was founded upon a Protestant work ethic and a culture of industriousness and individualism. If jobs are leaving America’s heartland, what does that mean for people’s sense of identity, meaning, and purpose in life? Could societal changes due to advancements in technology be part of the cause for despair and could it only get worse?  Princeton Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton, who discovered the trends in deaths of despair, point to automation, globalization, and de-unionization as the socioeconomic root causes of the hopelessness. They conclude, “Ultimately, we see our story as about the collapse of the white working class after its heyday in the early 1970s, and the pathologies that accompany this decline.” Artificial intelligence (AI) researchers estimate a 50% chance of AI outperforming humans in all tasks in 45 years, and that all human jobs will be automated in 120 years, meaning more of us are potentially at risk. Are the trends we see in deaths of despair in the US just the beginning of something much larger in nature? And when does despair turn into extremism? Is there anything we can do to turn hopelessness into hope?  Source: https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.08807 In the sections below, I detail my findings around automation’s impacts on job loss and the trends in deaths of despair. In future posts, I will discuss what governments around the world should consider when thinking about the future of their people and workforce, and where there is hope for an automated world.   Understanding Automation and Job Loss in the US On the surface, joblessness does not seem to be an ominous threat, since unemployment is at its lowest since the early 2000s. Yet, the data around automation tells a more nuanced story. Instead of overall job loss, we are seeing a hollowing out of middle-class jobs, with new jobs being created on the high and low ends but not in the middle, forming a barbell shape. Labor force participation rates have been decreasing since 2000, especially for those lacking formal education, and inequality is widening. Decline in Middle-Wage Jobs and Increase in Inequality David Autor, an MIT economist, explains that routine, middle-class jobs as a factory worker or a secretary have been automated, while low-wage jobs in services such as restaurants, personal fitness, and elder care that require more of a human touch have increased. However, because these are low-productivity jobs and there is a large supply of people who can do low-skilled work, they are also low-paid. The figure below shows that the four middle-wage jobs in the center (Operators, Production, Administration, and Sales) have all decreased, while those on the lower and higher end of the spectrum have gained. Jobs are thus not being completely destroyed, but middle-wage jobs are being automated and declining. Source: David Autor, https://economics.mit.edu/files/11563 Job loss due to automation has impacted rural communities much more than urban economies as well. While technology has immense possibilities to create new jobs, it is typically the urban and educated who receive those opportunities. The rural job market is 4.26% smaller than it was in 2008, while metropolitan area job markets are much larger since the recession. Manufacturing also represents a greater share of jobs and earnings for rural economies than urban economies, but industry jobs have declined 30% since 2001, meaning rural areas have experienced the greatest impact on their livelihood from these changes.  Automation has also not led to wage increases. Since 1973, productivity grew 74.4% while hourly compensation increased just 9.2%. This is partly a result of greater shares of income going to CEOs and capital owners over workers. It is also due to a decline in collective bargaining power of workers as unions have declined, and as people across the world have joined the US labor market as a result of globalization. This damage to the middle class has led to greater inequality in America. The bottom 90 percent’s average US income fell from $33,135 in 1970 to $30,439 in 2012, while the top 10 percent’s average income rose from $137,223 to $254,449. There are now 2.5 workers for every “good job” (income greater than $35,000) available to those without a college degree (7 in 10 Americans), meaning too many American families are left living on the edge. Source: David Rotman, https://www.technologyreview.com/s/531726/technology-and-inequality/ Automation has a Greater Impact on Jobs than Trade Globalization and de-unionization have contributed to this trend of middle-wage jobs disappearing, however, trade’s impact on jobs has been found to be less than technology’s influence. For instance, 13% of job losses in the manufacturing industry were due to trade, and the rest attributable to productivity gains from automation. Output from US manufacturing has more than doubled since 1980, while employment in manufacturing has declined by almost half. A machine that costs $8/hour can do the same welding work that a human can do at $25/hour, putting the human at a great disadvantage. These efficiency gains have allowed US manufacturing to remain competitive in the world, and the US is expected to move from its number two position to number one in 2020, but with detrimental impacts on the US labor force. Source: FT, Most US Jobs Lost to Manufacturing Not Trade, https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62 Declining Labor Force Participation As these middle-wage jobs are automated, the low-wage jobs that remain may not be highly desirable. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, of those who are unemployed but able to work, 66 percent of respondents say they have job options but are not interested in them. There may be different reasons for these results depending on gender. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times/CBS News Non-Employed Poll For women, if they have a young child or children, dropping out of the workforce may be the only option since childcare is prohibitively expensive and family and social support structures have weakened. Women who lack formal education account for most of the workers in the lowest-paying minimum-wage jobs, which could explain why just one-third of women without a high-school diploma are in the workforce compared with half of men in the same category. This is in contrast to the college-educated population, of which 72% of women and 81% of men are in the workforce. For men, the story could be that they are unwilling to take a minimum-wage job at the local McDonald’s when they were used to having a well-paying union job to be able to take care of their family. Additionally, the jobs becoming available are in the low-paid service sector in education, retail, food, or health care, and a man who does not think he has sufficient emotional capacity may not apply for jobs that require a patient, caring touch.  A White House report noted that by 2014, more than 16% of U.S. men between the ages of 25 and 54 with a high school education or less had dropped out of the workforce completely, higher than almost any other OECD country, and triple the number in the late 1960s. Inequality in Education Leading to Inequality in Opportunity These disparities in income can be correlated with disparities in education as well as mortality rates. The graphs below demonstrate the benefits of having some college compared to just a high school diploma, and also show that having a BA or more is more beneficial than just some college. Although educational institutions and the way we teach and train may change in the future, currently the data shows having more formal education is correlated with greater well-being. Source: Ann Case and Angus Deaton, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf However, obtaining a quality education is not equal for all in the US. Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon has shown that educational achievement is now more associated with family income than any racial differences, and the achievement levels are determined upon a child first entering kindergarten. For people with low-wage jobs or no jobs at all, their children are at a disadvantage to those with high incomes. As we can see in the charts below, there are over 20 million white people in the US living on less than $12,000 per year, which is the largest percentage by race. However, Native Americans, blacks, and Hispanics have the highest rates of poverty. If Sean Reardon’s research is right, which points to a cycle of income inequality, educational inequality, and achievement inequality, then focus should be on how to improve educational opportunity for those children living in low-income households. Typically, identity politics takes over instead, pitting poor white people against poor black people, who should be uniting together to pressure for change.  Based on the research above, it can be said that automation has decreased middle-wage jobs, and this has primarily affected those lacking in education and living in rural areas. However, Europe has likewise seen middle-wage jobs disappear, and blacks and Hispanics have lower income and career prospects than whites in the US, so why is it that other races and countries are not seeing the same rates of deaths of despair?   Understanding Deaths of Despair in the US Thomas Joiner, a psychologist and leading expert on suicide, came up with three factors that can lead to suicide: loneliness, burdensomeness, and capability, or fearlessness. Job loss can lead to all three. Unemployment can cause a person to lose a sense of community found at work, or damage personal relationships due to stress, leading to increased risk of domestic violence, substance abuse, and divorce. Unemployment can also lead to financial stress and a loss of healthcare, increasing feelings of being a burden on family and friends, which can only get worse if an illness appears. Moreover, the distress of losing a job can lead to depressive mental illness and a decline in feelings of self-worth, increasing a person’s hopelessness and fearlessness of death.  One report found that unemployment of less than five weeks is not associated with the number of suicides of women and men, but that increasing that number to 15–26 weeks of unemployment does increase the risk of suicide, and mass layoffs do as well. This finding coincides with the data showing many white middle-aged men and women lacking formal education have left the workforce altogether, spending months out of work — a dangerous predictor of suicide. Men die of suicide at a rate almost four times that of women, however, women actually attempt suicide more often than men do. This gender paradox of suicide behavior can partly be attributed to men using more lethal means, as they tend to use guns while women use drugs. Both men and women are experiencing high degrees of emotional distress. White women without a high school degree lost five years of life, while men lost three years from 1990–2008. This kind of rapid drop is very unusual except for instances of a war, genocide, or pandemic. Much of the fall in life expectancy is due to deaths from suicide, drugs, and alcohol.  White middle-aged women in the US experienced a 60 percent rise in suicides since 1990, and white middle-aged men a 50 percent rise, becoming one of the highest rates in the world. Loss Aversion and Relative Deprivation While rates of suicide for white Americans have been rising, rates for blacks and Hispanics have stayed flat and low, indicating unemployment or income differentials cannot be the whole story since blacks and Hispanics have higher rates of unemployment than whites do.  One explanation for this differential is that humans are loss averse, meaning we are impacted much more by a loss than we are by a gain, and we are also subject to relative deprivation, meaning we compare ourselves to those similar to us or around us. Suicides have been found to be more prevalent in places with the highest happiness levels, since the relative drop a person feels around well-off people can seem more devastating than remaining on a low level. Being in a community that is used to struggling historically, as some minorities are, could increase resilience. Being able to find fault with the system for one’s losses, rather than oneself, can help maintain a person’s self-worth and even may give a person a cause to live for in order to fight back against injustice. The data contributes to the explanation of loss aversion. Among Americans born in 1940, 90 percent were better off at 30 than their parents were at the age of 30. For those born in 1960, that number dropped precipitously to 60 percent. Economists believe this loss was worse for white Americans who typically held middle-income jobs in those eras (minorities were not so privileged), and which have since been impacted by automation due to technology and globalization. If white Americans are not guaranteed to make more income than their parents did anymore, and prospects for well-paying middle-class jobs are dim, the American dream has been lost for them, and despair may be the result. Lack of Family and Community Support Structures Community is also a factor in the difference between suicide rates. The feeling of belonging and acceptance is such an important human need, yet loneliness is on the rise in America. For white Americans lacking in formal education, family structures are breaking down. Divorce rates in the US are strongly correlated to income and education, and unmarried men have dramatically higher suicide rates than married men. A plurality of white women without a college degree now have a child outside of marriage, and have more cohabiting partners than women of other races, a symptom of “trading up” to find a partner who can care for her and her children. White women without a high-school diploma now have lower life expectancies than black women in the same cohort.  Working-class white Americans are also less likely to attend religious services or be involved in community groups than college-educated whites or non-whites. As shown in the graphs below, difficulty socializing increases as wages decline and the percentage not in the labor force increases. Mental and physical health are intimately interrelated. As social difficulties increase, sciatic and chronic pain increase, and suicide does as well.  The differences in family and community support structures may mean white Americans feel more alone in their struggles than do minorities, thus leading to higher rates of deaths of despair.  Cultural Dissonance around Status and Pride Culture may also play a part in the variance. America was founded upon a Protestant work ethic that rewarded rugged individualism and industrialism. Psychologists have named the South and Mountain West the suicide belt, known for its “culture of honor”, which maintains norms of masculinity that do not coincide anymore with the availability of blue-collar jobs. Add on high degrees of individualism, which can lead a person to attribute success, but also failure, solely to oneself, and joblessness becomes a grave risk factor for suicide if you cannot take care of your family as your culture tells you to. This points to a spiritual crisis of meaning and identity even more so than a lack of income.  Lack of Governmental Social Safety Net Lastly, the data shows that other developed nations are not experiencing the same trends in deaths of despair that the US is, as shown in the graph below, even though Europe has also experienced a decline in middle-wage jobs. One primary difference is that the US has fewer governmental social safety nets. Most other advanced nations have universal healthcare coverage and more robust benefits for workers in areas of unemployment, maternal leave, sick leave, and holiday allowances. Another difference may be the varying strength of family and community support structures. Americans confronted with joblessness, low-wage work with no benefits, or young children to take care, may have fewer places to turn for help than citizens of other developed countries. For those suffering from mental or physical illnesses, they may not seek out the necessary treatment, putting them more at risk of suicide.  Source: Anne Case and Angus Deaton, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf  Is Automation Causing Despair?  The story of deaths of despair in America show a sense of loss from generations past. Women lacking in formal education are faced with low wages and children to take care of, feeling a great burden to “do it all”, while men of the same demographic are faced with poor career prospects and diminished pride. Without traditional family or community structures to turn to and a lack of governmental assistance, loneliness prevails, and hopelessness goes untreated. The slogan “Make America Great Again” starts to make more sense when taking into account the loss of jobs, identity, family, and community in many American towns. The cry for conservatism and cultural and family preservation is a cry for help. Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard, claims that we may not be having a skill mismatch in our digital age, but rather an identity mismatch. If we take a syllogistic approach, we can conclude that automation leads to job loss, job loss leads to despair, thus automation leads to despair. This is not true for all populations, so far. It is primarily affecting those lacking in education living in rural areas who have been most hard-hit by automation, globalization, and de-unionization. For now, technological advances are creating amazing opportunities for those who are educated and live in urban areas, although artificial intelligence is predicted to take jobs away from doctors and lawyers for example as well in the near future. Therefore, this article is about those who have been left behind in the wake of tremendous technological progress, and also an omen about what could happen to further populations if automation replaces more jobs than we are prepared to lose.  Automation is leading to a crisis of identity, and the least educated are the most left behind This is a story about identity. Shown in the summary chart below, as blue-collar, well-paying union jobs disappear, an accompanying decline in status and pride can cause disruption in the social sphere. Women may divorce to try to find somebody else with a job who can take care of their family. People may feel less-inclined to participate in community and religious organizations. Instability in relationships can lead to isolation and feelings of a lack of belonging. Accompany this with feelings of burdensomeness due to a lack of income, and the pressure mounts. Without a sense of status or connection, meaning and purpose in life can seem hard to find. Add on cultural dissonance due to America’s longstanding culture of industriousness and individualism, and hopelessness and despair are not difficult to fathom. Even more concerning is the fact that this funnel of despair has also led some employers to turn to automation because they cannot find enough reliable people to work due to drug and alcohol abuse, making the cycle of automation and despair even more entrenched. While you have to worry about upkeep with machines, you have to worry about a lot more with humans: safety, minimum wages, pensions, sick leave, vacation time, maternal and paternal leave, disagreements, corruption, and more. This is also a story about inequality in educational opportunity. For low-income families, it is difficult to escape the cycle of lack of income, lack of quality education, lack of job prospects, joblessness, and despair. In the US, schools receive funding based off of property taxes, so those living in poorer areas have more poorly-funded schools. Wealthy parents can also spend money on extra classes and opportunities for their children to excel starting from kindergarten, locking in success from a very young age. While those working on racial justice issues have known this for decades, perhaps it unfortunately will take white constituents to shine a light on this problem for it to be addressed.  Should Other Countries Worry about Automation and Despair? Countries from the U.S. to China, Germany to Singapore, and Kenya to Argentina will very soon have to consider strategic policies to deal with the threat of job loss due to automation. Businesses are not only automating away jobs, but also the public sector itself is having to ask itself whether it should automate tasks or keep public sector employees on the payroll. Millions of people could be out of work, and governments are wondering what the effects of this shift from humans to machines could mean for their country’s stability and prosperity. Given the research provided, there are four factors all countries should consider when it comes to job loss due to automation. They are: The Culture How much emphasis does society place on jobs and income as status symbols? Not all cultures around the world place such great emphasis on income and jobs. Some European countries actually look down upon people who make too much money, wondering what corrupt practices they must have adopted. Some Asian countries value knowledge and education much more than income. Some Middle Eastern and African countries value community and social relationships more. How large of an influence jobs and income has on a person’s identity will therefore depend on their culture. The Community How much emotional, relational, and spiritual support is present for those who are vulnerable and in need? We are the products of our social circles, so if we are not getting positive emotional support, and especially if we are being fed negative messages, a threatening weight of despair can result. Relative Position and a Sense of Loss How great was the loss of jobs and income, especially compared to previous generations or those around them? In countries such as China that employ large numbers of the population and where the state is being technologically savvy and looking to artificial intelligence and automation, they will have to contend with the adverse consequences on people. Loss of income and jobs can be difficult psychologically even if the culture rewards other factors in life. The System of Government How large of a social safety net does the government provide, and is it strategic in its distribution efforts? While Europe has seen the same hollowing out of middle class jobs due to automation, it has not seen the same trend in deaths of despair, perhaps because of its stronger governmental social safety net. Europe has more of a socialistic system than the US that prioritizes redistribution from the rich to the poor. Countries like Germany also are strategic about their welfare system and are smart about providing education, job retraining, and apprenticeship programs for their populations. Governments, businesses, community leaders, and individuals all have a responsibility to understand these dimensions and act on them where possible in order to avert hopelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, and even terrorism and extremism.  What Can Be Done to Avert Despair? To counter hopelessness in an age of automation, we should seek to understand how to engage motivational forces that include as well as go beyond the realm of work. Joiner’s Theory of Suicide shows a person will be at great risk of suicide if s/he feels like a burden, is lonely and isolated, and is hopeless and has the means to commit the act. Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory that is consistently used to illustrate how to intrinsically motivate people contains the same three elements. A person will be motivated if they feel needed and useful, if they feel like they belong and are part of something greater, and if they feel like they have control over their destiny. Therefore, when considering solutions to our age of automation, we should think beyond income. Providing Universal Basic Income can help decrease feelings of burdensomeness, but it will not necessarily give people a sense of meaning. We need purpose, belonging, and enjoyment in life to maintain our wellbeing. Based on this knowledge, along with the findings on automation, job loss, and deaths of despair in the US, solutions in the realms of capacity, community, and culture are recommended. Joiner’s Theory of Suicide Ryan and Deci’s Theory of Motivation Solutions for Our Age of Automation Burdensomeness Competence Capacity Loneliness Relatedness Community Fearlessness, Capability Autonomy, Choice Culture  Capacity The goal of capacity building is to ensure people have enough money to take care of themselves and their families, have a purpose and feel needed and useful, and have adequate health and education opportunities necessary for thriving. Potential solutions are below: Earned Income Tax Credit vs Universal Basic Income One immediate, bi-partisan solution to address the challenge of burdensomeness due to joblessness is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which supplements the wages of low-income workers. Expanding the EITC could lift more of the financial burden off of those who are in low-wage jobs, and it could also entice those out of the labor force to join again. It can help increase wages for those doing part-time work or work on platforms such as Task Rabbit or Lyft. Rather than a Universal Basic Income (UBI) that gives a little money to everybody for nothing in return, the EITC can give more money to those who need it most. People who advocate for UBI have idealized visions of what humans would do with their free time, but time-use surveys show jobless men spend most of their time playing video games, watching TV or being on the internet, not pursuing life passions. While 70% of people feel disengaged at work, most people are happier complaining about work than not working at all, a phenomenon which psychologists label the “paradox of work.” If a UBI is to be implemented, it would need to be paired with societal programs that focus on people's psychology, not just their finances. All humans want to create, want to be useful, and want to reach their potential, we just need help getting there. While money is a good first step, it should be paired with programs that help people understand their purpose, unique gifts, and how they can contribute to their community. Moreover, there should be gathering spaces and groups for people to find connection, encouragement, and assistance so they can feel inspired and supported as they create their future. Ideally, a UBI would free humans to focus on what excites us the most and to be more entrepreneurial. Fear of money holds us back from taking risks and allowing creative energy to flow through. A lack of financial security can also lead us to harm ourselves or others, committing crimes just to survive. In a world of such drastic inequality as ours, where the 1% owns most of the wealth, it seems entirely possible to redistribute resources in ways that will increase overall wellbeing, and in turn, stimulate humanity's creative potential like never before seen. Funding for Education Retraining workers for jobs that become available is of utmost importance, and the government and companies will need to step in with incentives for this to transpire since it has not been happening naturally for the middle-aged population. Incentives could be given to companies, universities, nonprofits, trade organizations, entrepreneurial centers, and the like. Ensuring quality education for young children is also crucial. Local property taxes would be a place to start, as they supply 44% of the funding for elementary and secondary schools, yet are what fuel inequality in educational opportunity from a young age since the wealthiest areas have the highest-funded schools. This could be the highest leverage point for undoing inequality in our country and should be seriously considered. Gig and Sharing Economy Technology is enabling creative ways of hiring individuals on demand who have the skillset or the capital required for a task. More companies will be created in the coming years that connect supply and demand in innovative ways, potentially providing rural populations with more opportunities for employment. Technology is reducing the cost of starting a new business and enabling easier connection and transportation, which may help entrepreneurially-inspired individuals. Yet at the same time, the prevalence of large, global companies is also making it harder on small, local businesses to survive. If communities could place more value on goods made by local artisans, then woodworking shops or artistic studios outfitted with new technologies could prosper. Service to Community Beyond the EITC and retraining, the government could also expand community service programs such as AmeriCorps to include middle-aged Americans who could mentor the youth or take care of natural habitats. Philanthropic individuals or foundations could also offer money to local individuals or organizations to spur positive mentorship, emotional support, and resilience programs in communities that are desperately in need of hope. Large government projects to rebuild infrastructure could also be a way to get more men to work and in the masculine jobs they desire. This would increase employment and usher America into the 21st century with modernized transportation networks. Governmental Assistance For those who are older and do not have the ability to retrain or find work in their community, and who lost their job due to trade or technology, the government could choose to support them financially. This was done with the Trade Adjustment Assistance program and could be expanded. However, if governmental assistance of any kind is given, a resilience program should be offered in tandem so that people have the necessary emotional support after losing a job. Healthcare Lastly, in the realm of capacity-building, healthcare is of utmost importance to a person’s feelings of independence and vitality. A lack of healthcare may mean a person does not seek out the mental health treatment they desperately need. Joblessness can lead to a loss of healthcare overall, which in the case of an illness, can increase a person’s feelings of being a burden and potentially committing suicide. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a step forward in trying to give more people access to quality healthcare, and it did succeed in doing so in the regions where suicide is most common, as shown in the map below. Bankruptcy filings declined by 50% from 2010–2016, partly attributable to the ACA since medical debt also declined during that same time period. Current efforts to scale back Medicaid will hurt the people who need it most. Therefore, reaching jobless and low-income individuals should be prioritized rather than abandoned, whether through the ACA or some other way. Source: America’s Health Rankings, http://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/2015-annual-report/measure/HealthInsurance/state/ALL  Community Marriage, community and religious participation are on the decline in the U.S., especially for the white population lacking in formal education in the U.S. However, it is a broader trend and should be concerning for the whole country and world, as evidenced in the book Bowling Alone. Without positive and hopeful social support structures to turn to after loss of a job or income, mental and physical health can decline precipitously. The goal of community building therefore is to enable people to feel more connected to a social network, to have support structures in place, and spaces where people can go to when vulnerable and in need. Potential solutions are below: Connection through Social Professions and Community Service One way to enable connection is through work itself. Interestingly, the professions with the lowest suicide rates turn out to also be the professions that have less chance for automation given the emotional component. They are not the ones that pay the most, but are those that are most social (for both men and women). These include jobs in education, personal care, sales, and community service. It could be that a digital future actually allows us to engage in work that is more compassionate and communal, rather than repetitive and tedious, which could lead to greater connection and well-being overall. Volunteer opportunities to give back and help others is also an opportune way for people to step outside of their own story and into the lives of others, providing a respite from despair and potential inspiration to move forward. Living, Working, Playing, and Worshiping Together Another possibility is to rethink the way we live and construct buildings that enable single individuals or families to be in community with each other. This could cut down on food, childcare, and housing costs, while at the same time bringing people closer together. Communal work centers where people can go to be entrepreneurial, or do wood working or other creative endeavors would also connect like-minded people. Community spaces where people can go for various activities such as card playing, yoga, crafts, or whatever the community members desire would also be a way to ignite a sense of community. Religious or spiritual spaces depending on community members’ leanings are also a powerful way to create belonging and build a supportive network. Traditional Structures Connection could be built through schools, churches, parks, and community centers. Positive mentorships with people who care can make all of the difference in a world that feels lonely and hopeless. Local leadership will be needed to build communities that inspire authentic connection, and that create a place for people to turn to each other when vulnerable and in need. While we like to look to the government to solve our social problems, these challenges require more local compassion. Donating to or volunteering for nonprofits and churches creates a sense of shared community more than paying taxes to or receiving benefits from the government does. Online Communities We are the products of our social circles, so if we are not getting positive emotional support, and especially if we are being fed negative messages by fellow community members, a threatening weight of despair can result. A lack of motivation can have effects on a person’s effort placed towards job retraining, applying for jobs, or even showing up to a job. Therefore, sometimes it may take a person going beyond their own community and finding a more supportive network online. Listening to the stories of others who have found inspiration despite hard times can be encouraging, and conversing with those who have similar interests could lead to new opportunities. While the internet is being used by terrorist groups who are building a sense of purpose for some young people around the world, we should also be using the internet to create movements of resilience and hope around the world. Mental Health Options While there are structural problems at the root of deaths of despair, psychological challenges have been constructed over them. Yet, in many parts of America and the world, mental health is stigmatized. Countries with the highest rates of suicide have taken steps to increase the number of people who use mental health services. Finland implemented a suicide prevention program with the support of schools, churches, military, welfare organizations, and healthcare workers, and managed to decrease the rate of suicide by half over two decades. South Korea is following Finland’s example and working on changing its cultural norms around seeking out therapy. The US could implement similar programs to ensure people are getting the help they need. However, we have to remember that occurrences of mental distress are symptoms of a larger problem, not root causes. Culture This is the most difficult challenge we face. The United States was founded upon a Protestant work ethic and rugged individualism. People gain status and worth through their job and how much income they make, especially men. When real wages decline or desirable, masculine jobs are no longer to be found, a person’s sense of identity can be questioned and feelings of hopelessness can take over. Redefining Roles and Values Cultural dispositions around jobs and honor will thus have to be reconsidered. We should contemplate how we as a society can free men of traditional masculine norms, just as women have sought for decades to be free from traditional feminine norms. Society as a whole may need to reconsider what it values, as social-good professions and projects traditionally are not well-compensated. People who care for children or the elderly, educate our youth, or work with disadvantaged populations are the ones who are nurturing past and future generations and ensuring a flourishing society. Their mentorship should be more esteemed, especially in a future where emotions could be the main differentiator between human and machine. The culture of work may need to be reexamined altogether if we truly are headed for a jobless future. While work can bring us feelings of belonging and purpose, work alone does not necessarily have to provide these motivational factors. Creating a culture that fosters a sense of identity and meaning beyond work could take numerous forms focusing attention around arts, carpentry, music, spirituality, community building, gardening, or some other creative outlet that gives people a sense of worth and purpose, and connects them to other humans in meaningful ways. For millennia humans have found purpose in serving their community through religious devotion, public service, volunteering, or mentoring. Better than universal basic income would be for the government, corporations, or philanthropists to reward people who serve their community in positive ways. Serving others not only helps build meaningful connections and creates stronger, safer, healthier communities, but it also improves mental health. Culture is malleable, and we can be creative about how we rethink what we value as a society. Inspiring Hope rather than Fear Playing the victim or blaming others is also not helping people’s outcomes. Around two-thirds of the white working class believe the American way of life has deteriorated, its identity is under threat, and foreign and immigrant influences should be feared. Initiatives that bring diverse people together to eat together, talk together, and solve community problems together can show people how similar they are and how working alongside each other is more mentally enriching than fighting each other. As shown, poverty knows no race, and automation will take anybody’s job. None of us know when our job will be next. So coming together to solve these challenges as one country will be more constructive than tearing each other down. We tend to blame China, Mexico, and immigrants for our problems since it’s much harder to fight against the non-human machine that took the job. Rethinking the Workweek and Necessary Income Levels Another solution could be rethinking the workweek altogether. The most educated in America are sometimes working stressful and anxiety-provoking 60–80 hour weeks in banking, consulting, medicine, and law. With a 20–30-hour work week, people could have more time to spend with those they love, do the activities they enjoy, and exercise and be healthy. This could give greater numbers of Americans an incentive to get an education if more high-wage jobs are available, and it could also reduce the risk of underemployment, which could transpire if opportunities corresponding to education levels are not available. Cultural norms around hours worked and salary levels would have to adjust alongside the structural reforms, as many people currently think they have to make over $100,000 to lead a good life. Yet while GDP has grown steadily in the U.S. over the past 100 years, happiness levels have actually decreased. Redefining Humanity Lastly, we need to begin assessing what it means to be human. As machines begin to do what humans can do, even in the realm of expressing emotions, who are we? What does this mean for us as spiritual and religious beings? How can we retain psychological stability and flourish in this new age? As belief in religion is declining, belief in science as the absolute truth is increasing. However, science doesn’t provide an answer for the meaning of life. Why are we alive? What is our purpose on Earth?  Do We Really Care? The U.S. is a capitalistic society that aims to create the necessary conditions for business to thrive. Thus tax rates for corporations and wealthy individuals are kept low in order to maintain America’s competitiveness in the world. The side effect of this is that the less fortunate are left without healthcare, quality education, or a proper social safety net. Mental and physical health concerns go untreated when people do not have health insurance, inequality in educational opportunity leads to inequality in job opportunities and income, and the means to retrain after losing a job can be nonexistent. We now have a society with massive inequality. The richest people on Earth live in America and hoard their money, while middle-class white people lacking in formal education in America are sinking in poverty and have some of the highest rates of suicide on Earth. Native American reservations have poverty rates worse than developing nations, and are worried about their children committing suicide every day. The black community is living under a new form of slavery as one in three black men in the US can expect to go to prison in their lifetime, which has serious systemic impacts on their families and communities. There are millions of people in American who are struggling every day to get by, yet we conclude that inequality and poverty is just a side-effect of being pro-business and wealth will trickle down. But it hasn’t. Unfortunately, instead of fighting the system that is creating the inequality, poor white people are fighting against poor black people, since it’s easier to blame somebody who looks different but harder to blame a complicated system. My hope is that with this research, Americans can start to realize that we would be stronger working together to fix the system than blaming each other. While it’s unfortunate that sometimes it takes white people hurting to wake people up, it may be fortunate that this time has now come and we can start enacting smart policies. Rutgers sociologist Julie Phillips warns suicide rates may only get worse. Phillips says there is a “new epidemiology of suicide” where economic, social, and cultural shifts are creating a heavier burden of suicide. The Christian community should be up in arms that the US has failed to take care of its poorest and weakest citizens. Should not our purpose be to deploy the massive wealth stockpiled with the top 1-10% of the world’s population to bring an end to poverty, sickness, and a lack of education. What are we waiting for? As technology exacerbates inequality and wealth continues to be stockpiled, an American-style French Revolution is not hard to imagine. Or, another Civil War could occur as racial divides continue to gloss over structural problems. Already we are seeing signs of extremism. Alongside the opioid epidemic has been an influx of white supremacist movements. Tackling the opioid epidemic and white supremacist movements isn’t just about what pills people are taking or what flag they fly, but about their sense of identity, social connections, and meaning in life. It is time we expand our awareness of the impacts of automation not only to a loss of jobs, but also to a loss of status, connection, and hope. The psychological impacts are as real as any economic ones, and may now be surfacing in extreme and unfortunate ways. If America wishes to thrive into the future, preparing for an automated world will require efforts beyond the economy. We need to discover innovative ways of building a stronger sense of purpose and belonging in our country so that self-harm and harming others is no longer the option people resort to taking. We need to collaborate together to solve problems and use our collective knowledge and talents to create a world that works for all. 4