Manna by Marshall Brain

Marshall Brain is the guy behind HowStuffWorks.com, and from this short story it's clear he likes economic, tech, and transhuman thoughts. Manna recounts the introduction of computer control to the labor force in the United States from the perspective of a guy who flipped burgers at the behest of computer control. As computer control steadily eats other careers, it eventually catches up with him again when he's working as a teacher. Well, was working as a teacher as a bot has made him redundant, and since he has no other career path, he's off to live in the welfare camps.

The powers that be monitor everything, so revolution becomes impossible to plan and execute. So the welfare-ridden remain hidden from the plutocratic public (capital owners benefit a bunch from automation). And apparently (since there's no global conflict), with the pesky plebiscite appeased, countries no longer feel like going to war. Although to tell you the truth, if I had some of the things in this book, I'd be too busy hacking to go to war.

There's a bunch of fun thoughts in this short read, and even though it's dystopian, it doesn't end badly for our protagonist. ;)