Sorry for bumping an old thread.
I have encountered similar arguments in the past.
The title is a good one.. "A Society Where Everyone Is Wealthy, Technology Liberates Us From Jobs, And The World Is A Paradise"
That is the natural end of a free market. I tell my socialist friends “Imagine a world where technology produces everything we need and you have a right to consume what is produced.” That technology exists today. It is a diversified stock portfolio - ownership of the means of production.
Workers need to set aside income and buy a share of the means of production over their lifetimes and be able to pass it on to their children. As people become wealthier there will be fewer and fewer people willing to do “menial labor” and the cost of that labor will exceed the cost of technology and automation. Naturally the means of production will become increasingly automated. Workers will be relieved of their labor and as long as they saved and own a share of the means of production, will have the right to consume what is produced.
It just happens to be that right now, ownership of enough means of production to live a reasonable existence is about $1-3 million for most people’s standards. As time progresses, this price will come down (in real terms, not nominal with the printing press).
About this time the socialist is nodding like “Yeah I guess that makes sense…” and then I point out that their policies basically subvert this and stand in the way: death taxes, investment taxes, savings redistribution, artificial means of propping up employment, minimum wage, etc. All of these types of policies impede savings, capital accumulation, automation, investment, and so on. It delays us from reaching the end goal which is to have technology produce all that we need so we can live a life of leisure.