It is just using automation as an excuse to implement socialism on a grand scale.
That may be, but I've yet to hear other ideas.
A new model of wealth distribution is going to be required as we shift into a labourless society.
We will need a model of labor distribution, not wealth. Government should not paying for people to be idle, instead they should be encouraging retraining of displaced workers into modern jobs or help with setting up jobs abroad in countries in need of their labor. Getting in the way of the natural order of things by paying people to stay put is the exact wrong method. The west is soon to have an oversupply of labor. If government stays out of the way, the people will redistribute themselves (for the most part) and it will be better for the west and for the developing nations that will see a huge increase in skilled, experienced labor and business people pouring into their developing economies. People will go to where the jobs and opportunities are. They always have.
As the west moves into a more automated society, there will be new opportunities abounding. Instead of back-breaking labor in cancer-causing industries, people will have more time for things that aren't likely to be automated. Art, music, design, writing, invention, health, philosophy as well as high-end artisan industries (where people will pay extra to have their goods/services done by a human). Not to mention that these automated industries will still need many humans to work in high-paying design and maintenance jobs of these complex machines. These new industries will spring up on their own if the government isn't paying large portions of the population to do nothing.
Government should not paying for people to be idle..
..paying people to stay put..
I'm not arguing that point, all I'm saying is the existing model of wealth distribution is going to break down, so a solution of some kind is necessary.
retraining of displaced workers into modern jobs
That is not a solution. The problem is that jobs are being eliminated at a much higher rate than new ones created.
Getting in the way of the natural order of things
There is no such thing as a 'natural order' in this context, so I don't understand what you mean.
the people will redistribute themselves..
So your solution to unemployed youth of the next generation is to tell them to move to Africa or another 3rd world that still uses more primitive technology?
Even then, that would be temporary at best. When those nations catch up, they won't need the labour either.
As the west moves into a more automated society, there will be new opportunities abounding.
Not under the current system there won't.
The idea that we're all going to get jobs doing hobbies or art is naive to an extreme level. That's just not how capitalism works.
If you can be replaced by a machine, you will be.
The lost jobs will far outnumber any new opportunitys.
Artists, and academics may be ok, but that is a minority of the population. Everyone else will be obsolete from a 'for profit' perspective.
If we don't make some changes we will end up where we won't need everyone contributing full time hours.
But everyone will still need a fulltime paycheck to live.
Sounds like an awful idea. It is just using automation as an excuse to implement socialism on a grand scale. Many low-skill and skilled labor jobs are going to be eliminated in first world countries, but they won't be eliminated everywhere. For decades, low skill workers have flooded first-world countries, but now they will go where the work is. You might not be able to be truck driver in England anymore, but you could build a trucking empire in a developing country like South Africa with the knowledge gained by working in England. Paying these people to stay put in first world countries and do nothing on the internet is a horrible idea. But, then again, if you are paying enough peoples housing, travel, and internet, they will never vote you out of office and this is what it is really about.