# Just in time society (slim) > Vlad Cealicu on how society seems to rearrange itself just in time for what's happening around it, from the Factory Acts and the NHS to celebrities convicted of rape and misconduct, and how we'll adapt to tools smarter than us, with a wealth gap that grows first and narrows later. - Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/just-in-time-society.md (~2,850 tokens) · this version ~1,280 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/just-in-time-society.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/just-in-time-society - Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-09 - Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data) By Vlad Cealicu, 9 November 2026. 970 words, about 4 min to read. Humanity is good at adapting (I wrote about that in [We adapt, we always have](/blog/we-adapt-ai-2040) in October), and the more I read about it the more it looks like we have this just in time societal rearrangement based on what is happening around us. ## The industrial revolution Between 1780 and 1840 output per worker in Britain rose 46%, while the real wage of working people rose about 12%. Then society caught up. Britain, rise over each period, per cent | Period | Output per worker | Real wage | | --- | --- | --- | | 1780 to 1840 | 46 | 12 | | 1840 to 1900 | 90 | 123 | Each series has a zero-based scale. It took decades and it cost a lot of lives, and it wasn't a plan anyone wrote in advance. ## The NHS The NHS is the clearest case I know. Britain's problems and the rearrangements that followed 1. **1790 to 1840** (problem). Output per worker grows nearly four times as fast as wages, Engels' pause [[1]](#ref-1) 2. **1833** (rearrangement). The Factory Act limits children's work and sets up factory inspectors [[2]](#ref-2) 3. **1840s** (problem). Crowded towns with poor drainage, typhus and cholera [[3]](#ref-3) 4. **1848** (rearrangement). The Public Health Act and a General Board of Health [[3]](#ref-3) 5. **1840 to 1900** (rearrangement). Real wages rise faster than output per worker [[1]](#ref-1) 6. **1939 to 1945** (problem). A ruinous total war [[4]](#ref-4) 7. **1942** (rearrangement). The Beveridge Report proposes benefits to end want, with free healthcare [[4]](#ref-4) 8. **1948** (rearrangement). The NHS opens on 5 July, with about 95% of people registered [[4]](#ref-4) ## A stronger morality I think we're doing it again now, and one place I see it is our morality getting stronger. Look at the last eighteen months instead. ## Tools smarter than us We've adapted to tools more powerful than us already. The IMF said in January 2024 that AI will affect almost 40% of jobs in the world and about 60% in advanced economies, and Kristalina Georgieva said that "in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality" [[9]](#ref-9). But I think the stronger morality is arriving just in time to address it. ## Society and AI Society is cool and AI is as well, in complementary ways. People are good at deciding together what's fair, and at changing their minds about it when the world changes, and AI is getting good at a lot of the rest. --- More in [Opinion](https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/opinion/index.md) - Older: [Meta's smallest model is the one we can't run](https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/muse-ember-the-small-model-we-cant-run.md) - Newer: [A machine that builds the benchmark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/a-machine-that-builds-the-benchmark.md) - All posts: https://www.anchorterminal.com/blog/index.md Anchor Terminal grades the tools AI agents run on, with a source for every score. ## References Read on 9 November 2026. [1] Robert C. [2] UK Parliament, Living Heritage, The 1833 Factory Act. [3] The National Archives, Cholera and public health in mid-19th century Britain. [4] The National Archives, The foundation of the NHS. [5] Wikipedia, Giving Victims a Voice, the report by the Metropolitan Police Service and the NSPCC published on 11 January 2013. Source for Savile dying in 2011, two earlier police investigations in his lifetime leading to no charges, 450 people coming forward about him, and offences reported between 1955 and 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_Victims_a_Voice [6] CBC News, Gérard Depardieu convicted of sexual assault, May 2025. Source for a Paris court convicting Depardieu of sexually assaulting two women on the set of Les Volets Verts, with an 18-month suspended sentence. [7] Wikipedia, Harvey Weinstein. [8] Forbes, Mary Roeloffs, Russell Brand sentenced to 10 years in prison following rape conviction, 9 November 2026. Source for Southwark Crown Court sentencing Brand to ten years and six months on 9 November 2026, after a jury found him guilty the week before of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault. [9] RNZ, AI to hit 40 percent of jobs and worsen inequality, IMF says, 15 January 2024. Source for what RNZ reported of the IMF's analysis and Kristalina Georgieva's words, almost 40% of jobs worldwide and about 60% in advanced economies affected, and "in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality". [10] Al Jazeera, Where in the world are wealth and income most unequal?, 10 December 2025. Source for what Al Jazeera reported of the World Inequality Report 2026, the richest 10% owning about three quarters of personal wealth and the poorest half about 2%.