I agree that a future where millions live in poverty, working insane hours for minimal wages is repulsive and definitely the sort of thing that the next generation of web services might bring closer.
But this future is going to come anyway, in the near future automation and centralization of production are only going to increase, leading to much increased joblessness.
The only way we can combat that is if more wealth leaks down from the top, be it through labor services or social government.
Future? Everything I've heard about society and the economy in the US says it's the present, without Web services coming into the picture. Web services don't make that aspect of things either better or worse, but what they do have the potential to do is make it so you don't have to endure a grinding commute and abuse by a sociopathic boss as well as the poverty and excessive hours
But this future is going to come anyway, in the near future automation and centralization of production are only going to increase, leading to much increased joblessness.
The only way we can combat that is if more wealth leaks down from the top, be it through labor services or social government.