Life After Labor: Designing Our Economic Future [Salon Series]

​A century ago, John Maynard Keynes predicted that technology would free us from work drudgery. He envisioned a 15-hour workweek where machines handled the heavy lifting.

​Yet despite extraordinary productivity gains, we work longer and harder than ever. We’re trapped not by scarcity, but by social structures that turn abundance into anxiety.

​Now AI promises to automate vast portions of human labor. We’re at the same crossroads Keynes described: Will we design systems that free us, or repeat the same mistakes?

​What We’ll Explore

​In an interactive, discussion format, this salon explores practical pathways to a post-labor economy. Beyond redistributing wealth, we’ll envision how abundant time could unlock human potential in ways our current system makes impossible:

• ​Deep learning and mastery over years, not stolen evenings

• ​Meaningful creative pursuits without financial pressure

• ​Stronger relationships and community bonds

• ​Space for reflection, growth, and discovering what we’re truly capable of