Our fragmented society has fallen away from the sense that we are all in this together. Isn’t it time for all Americans to ensure, by means of public-private endeavors, that wealth, rather than merely further enriching the already extremely well-off, circulates throughout our entire economic system?

ANDREW G. BJELLAND

Salt Lake City

The writer is professor emeritus of philosophy at Seattle University.

Readers React

In the short term, Prof. Andrew G. Bjelland is right: Certainly it is imperative that the government — either with or without a partnership with private industry — create jobs by improving the nation’s infrastructure, Works Progress Administration-type projects, national service and all the rest. But that is just a temporary fix. We are only on the cusp of major developments in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence that within a generation or so will require us to completely rethink the structure of society. What will happen when there are no more low-paying jobs and when many higher-paying jobs also disappear? Right now, at the dawn of A.I. and smart robots, we are already seeing the disappearance of enormous numbers of manufacturing and even service jobs. When was the last time you reached a live telephone operator when you called a company? Today there are algorithms that can do a perfectly good job of investing, analyzing weather patterns and medical results, even writing news articles.

Our society must come to terms with the fact that people will have to be given the means to a happy, healthy and productive life without paid jobs. Are we close to that point? It’s a major cultural upheaval that we need to prepare for, and it’s coming all too soon.

MICHAEL SPIELMAN

Bronx

Creating jobs for people with limited education and skill sets is incredibly challenging. Andrew G. Bjelland’s suggestion of a Works Progress Administration-like program is on the right track. But the question is how to get it through a Republican Congress. Since Republicans have said for years that the rich are the “job creators,” I suggest that we put this notion to the test. Congress could establish a program that provides tax credits to individuals and companies that sponsor training and a job for individuals. The jobs must be 1) in an area with the longest and highest rates of unemployment; 2) for a minimum of one year; and 3) given to individuals who have been unemployed for at least six months.