"As I look around, I see mass, systemic unemployment taking hold."
Only because we are paying people to not work, and because fair pay is illegal under a certain rate. Consequence is that work worth less than minimum wage cannot, by law, be given to people - and so automation moves in.
Stop paying people to not work and they'll find or make work. (There is a difference between a safety net and making lack of arbitrary wealth illegal.)
And "the poor", for most practical purposes, does not exist in the US. If you are living on more - a lot more - than the world median income, if you are flushing your toilet with drinking water, if you have a TV & car & cell phone & AC & thermostat heating & >1000 sq ft housing & ..., if you have over $1/meal/person/day[1], and etc you're not poor.
You're forgetting that many of the people who have those things you describe can only actually 'afford' them in the US because of cheap credit. If they were to sell all those things at the price they bought them, they would still be in debt, and thus are, in fact, poor.
Cheap credit is a luxury. You're ignoring a host of mitigating factors.
If your choice is 850 days of food vs. a TV, and you opt for the TV, you're not poor. (Derived from [1] above.) With over two years of energy literally under your belt, paying off that cheap loan and earning far more, even under adverse conditions, leverages you well outside poverty.
"Poor on paper" is unconvincing, given the opportunity for wise choices.
Only because we are paying people to not work, and because fair pay is illegal under a certain rate. Consequence is that work worth less than minimum wage cannot, by law, be given to people - and so automation moves in.
Stop paying people to not work and they'll find or make work. (There is a difference between a safety net and making lack of arbitrary wealth illegal.)
And "the poor", for most practical purposes, does not exist in the US. If you are living on more - a lot more - than the world median income, if you are flushing your toilet with drinking water, if you have a TV & car & cell phone & AC & thermostat heating & >1000 sq ft housing & ..., if you have over $1/meal/person/day[1], and etc you're not poor.
[1] - http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com