"remove the obligation to work for a living"
Objectively, we're going in that direction. We have machines to do the hardest parts of manual labor (aka mining, tunneling, farming, etc). These machines need human supervision, but humans do not need to do the hard work. We have robots for many aspects of manufacturing. Cars are made mostly by robots, with humans just checking things out.
As a species, we are working towards having robots do everything. We'll have a robot car, no need to drive. We'll have a robot butler, no need to clean the house. We'll have robot road makers, house builders, farmers, etc. We're going there.
When we get there, what will we do ? We'll sit back and watch all that stuff work for us. Meanwhile, we'll be watching cat videos on Youtube. That means we'll need the means to have a computer, a connection, and the snacks we eat in front of said screen. All of that will need to be provided for, because we won't be working anymore.
This will be a sea change in human society. The sci-fi novel The Expanse touched on that subject, with Earth population being able to decide between Basic, where they would be fed/cared for for nothing, and /Not Basic/ (don't quite remember), where you had a career (mainly in politics, apparently) and a salary that could allow you some benefits beyond just having food, clothing, shelter and health care.
In the long run, we're going to have to come to grips with a society where humans no longer need to work to provide for themselves.
But it's in the long run.
