Uploaded October 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Alquist: ...all the workers in the world will be out of a job.
Domin: Yes, they will be, Alquist. They will be, Miss Glory. But in ten years’ time Rossum’s Universal Robots will be making so much wheat, so much material, so much of everything that nothing will cost anything. Everyone will be able to just take as much as he needs. Nobody will live in poverty. They won’t have jobs, that’s true, but that’s because there won’t be any jobs to do. Everything will be done by living machines. People will do only the things they want to do, they can live their lives just so that they can make themselves perfect.

-R.U.R. by Karel Capek (1920)


*** Sources & Links ***

BOOKS

Working by Studs Terkel
goo.gl/ZoAqnr

Science And Technology In World History by James E. McClellan, Harold Dorn
goo.gl/LbivH2

Leonardo To The Internet by Thomas J Misa
goo.gl/0Vuyyb

ARTICLES

Lice & Clothing
goo.gl/S0QMgt

AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs
goo.gl/KVT43a

Why Studs Terkels Working World No Longer Exists
goo.gl/uLdTqN

If The Robots Steal All Our Jobs Then Wages Will Be Rising At 200% Per Year: What Problem Is That?
goo.gl/hSem8Z

Is Work Good Or Bad by Gary Gutting
goo.gl/bgHKQn

A World Without Work by Derek Thompson
goo.gl/0TC9ss

The Satire Of The Trades
goo.gl/iXoKi8

Luddites
goo.gl/Gp6cZD

Court Jesters
goo.gl/gM59AO

Sploot Review
goo.gl/hzRMkt

The Development and History Of Horticulture
http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/...

DATA

The End Of Extreme Poverty by 2030
goo.gl/8oQQQS

American Time Use Survey
goo.gl/4119G1

USDA Disposable Personal Income Spent On Food
goo.gl/4ScBcV

GDP Per Person
goo.gl/L0BXMk

Labor Force for Historical Statistics of the United States
goo.gl/64eXuj

Retail Prices Of Selected Foods In U.S. Cities 1890-2015
goo.gl/jbdxbG

Our World In Data
goo.gl/zD9UqC

Consumer Goods And Hours Of Work
goo.gl/0uQkpM

Number Of Jobs Held In A Lifetime
goo.gl/ETVJYz

BRITISH PATHÉ FOOTAGE

Blacksmith: Edison Kinetoscope 1895
goo.gl/FvNTOJ

Horse Drawn Fire Engine
goo.gl/ijpsPd

Steel Works Factory
goo.gl/mRmPyf

Factory Girls On Strike
goo.gl/LNtl4f

Staff Going Into Gate of Varnish Factory 1920-1929
goo.gl/uEp0qr

A Century Of Progress - First Locomotive
goo.gl/hrtYfq

Weaving 1952
goo.gl/5uPw4V

Weaving 1940-1949
goo.gl/57YW5E

Women Bakers 1914-1918
goo.gl/bAqMNk

Iron Foundry Workers Required 1947
goo.gl/wdxatB

Greece - Prior To De Gaulle’s Visit 1963
goo.gl/NFB8EU

Skeleton Tailor 1949
goo.gl/RfHroY

Gold Beaters 1952
goo.gl/nFCtML

Electric Car In 1940
goo.gl/lKzTvA

Gentle Giant Aka Robot 1958
goo.gl/ABJIXV

Brave Fire Fighters 1918
goo.gl/CIXUPw

Down And Outs 1950-1959
goo.gl/yPrSwC

A Day In The Life Od Hungarian Fashion Model 1965
goo.gl/M7PXxu

Guard Shoemaker 1943
goo.gl/c8tuRo

ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE

Humans Need Not Apply by CGP Grey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S...

THANKS TO EXPERT ADVISORS

Thanks To British Pathé
britishpathe.com

Steven Horwitz
http://fee.org/search/?q=Steven%20Hor...

Elizabeth Wayland Barber
elizabethwaylandbarber.com

Paintings by Giovanni Caselli
goo.gl/TK5PJr

Vsauce2 Links
Facebook: facebook.com/VsauceTwo
Website: vsauce.com

Written, Produced and Hosted by Kevin Lieber
Instagram: instagram.com/kevlieber
Twitter: twitter.com/kevinlieber
Website: kevinlieber.com

Production Assistant Michael Watson
twitter.com/MichaelDWatson1

VFX by Eric Langlay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpbXV...

Additional Animation by Lulu Jiang
lulujiang.com

Sound Design/Mix by Jay Pellizzi
jaypellizzi.com

Contributing Editor Matthew Tabor, Koala Fight Media
http://koala.fm/

Music by Jake Chudnow
youtube.com/user/jakechudnow