6.29.2004

 

The effect of robots on employment

Why 1.4 million new jobs haven't ended the jobless recovery

The article opens with this:1.4 million new jobs does sound good, doesn't it? But think about this:Why is this happening? The article's conclusion is this:And this:What we are seeing today is the tip of the iceberg. We are at the very leading edge of the robotic revolution, with kiosks and self-checkout lines being the first harbingers of things to come in the American workforce. See Robotic Nation for details.

Comments:
After reading 'Robotic Nation' I've come to the conclusion that this would only destroy our economy if we cling to capitalism.

(Capitalism is a great system, very much like training wheels are good for kids learning to ride a bike. We will soon be able to grow past it into a system which I think is a touch ahead of it's time, but still works fairly well now, Socialism [the western-european sort])

If there are enough laborers, then labor becomes post-scarce, it comes at no significant cost to anyone, so labor soon becomes free. If we embrace renewable energy sources on a grand enough scale, then energy will also become post-scarce.

With labor and energy being all but free to produce, we can just live as a race of social and intellectual beings.
 
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