[ExI] Is unemployment the future?

Eugen Leitl eugen at leitl.org
Tue Nov 3 12:16:07 UTC 2009


On Tue, Nov 03, 2009 at 12:41:38PM +0100, Stefano Vaj wrote:
> 2009/11/3 BillK <pharos at gmail.com>
> 
> > The computer engineer who thinks we're doomed
> >
> > <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10388726-71.html>
> >
> > Quotes:
> > Essentially, he believes that technology is the direct cause of job
> > losses that will never return.
> >
> 
> Haven't we heard this very same song since the first industrial revolution?

You do not seem to like the melody. I agree it's harsh and grating, 
but unfortunately it's also true.

There are not enough paying jobs around people can do. Meaning, either
they can't do it, or they can't get paid doing it. The result is the same.
There's some heavy cosmetics being applied to somewhat camouflage the problem,
but it's pretty obvious if you look a bit closely.

There's considerable mayhem brewing if we can't resolve that conflict
in the coming 10 to 20 years. That Ford dude is only voicing what many
people think in private.

(Of course there are arguably bigger problems ahead, some of which like
peak resource and overshoot are somewhat causally related to above, but 
much more dangerous).

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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