that case in and of itself. is as you said ridiculously extreme. first of all there is a clear trend that as the value an individual in a society contributes goes up the economy expands, rather then collapsing. How many man hours does it take to feed a town of 100 people for a year? has the number of man hours increased or decreased from the roman era, through the middle ages, the Renaissance the industrial revolution, the chemical revolution, the atomic age, and finally the internet age. now how many unemployed are there in our town of 100 on average in each of this ages?