It's way more complicated than that. Say hypothetically, we have an abundance of milk which we don't but assume we do, so everyone can have as much milk as they wanted, and nobody needs to pay for it. First of all, the entire supply chain of milk production, packaging, & distribution must still exist & function efficiently, & maintain quality standards, much like it does in the current developed world. People will still need to work, farmers must still milk the cows, factories must still produce and package, goods must still be transported to and shelved on retail outlets for customers to access it. Someone still needs to clean the retail floor, and someone still needs to engage with the customers, and you need a way to reasonably compensate everyone involved. Second of all, what about milk derivatives that are not abundant, like cheese or butter or your favorite Greek yogurt? They are not in abundance, so you're back to a scarcity economy and you need to figure out how to reasonably distribute them based on need.

Many people sincerely believe certain kinds of labor to be valued at less than the cost of a decent human livelihood.

Modern Slavery

Not only that, but as time goes on, we become more productive and generate more profits, only to see the age of retirement increased

I thought lemmy already surpassed this "stage"

This isnt a shitpost

You know, if you lived self-sufficient you'd still have to work for meeting basic needs. Even in pretty much any form of socialism you are expected to work. So yeah, I don't know what you think you are saying, but I think you are saying a whole lot of nothing here

You're free to use your enormous wealth to secure a comfortable life for yourself and your ilk, just like they are.

That's the logic. Law of the jungle. The strongest survive. And that's why freedom absolutists are either moronic or evil.

A society must consist of individuals willing to perform labor- that much I know. I also know the current system isn't working

Literally a modern serfdom

See, it's not the working that's the issue. It's the lack of control over our surplus value. It's the lack of control over the means of production.