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Old 12-16-2014, 09:00 AM
 
Location: South Carolina
3,022 posts, read 2,274,837 times
Reputation: 2168

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
OK......starting a business can mean something small.....at first.

Example.......repair small equipment......lawn movers.......ect.

That can be done with a very small investment........in your garage.....buy parts as needed.

That will give you write offs........this will give you all of your money back the government takes from your regular job. (not FICA)

This give you your "seed" money to expand.

I just watched a friend do this with cleaning homes.........now, she makes good money.......and just works for herself.

Now, you can tell me this won't work........and for you it will not.
You really think that you can make enough to live on repairing lawn mowers? Not everyone has lawn mowers and lawn mowers tend to last for a while so you may have a lawn mower to fix once in a while but not enough to make good money. You can good money cleaning houses if you can find an expensive neighborhood and again not that many need housekeepers. These type of jobs work in a area where there is a lot of money or by people who are working as a second income for their family.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:04 AM
 
13,961 posts, read 5,628,343 times
Reputation: 8617
The fun of another greywar vs Mircea debate aside, a few facts remain:
  • There are lots of jobs that can be automated.
  • The useful life of an automaton can be calculated, and it's resulting "labor cost" on a per hour basis can be calculated.
  • If a business owner finds that the automaton is a better ROI than human employees, the automaton will get the job.
  • Profit is the purpose of business.
  • Lower costs increase profit.
Subjective emotions like caring, sympathy, etc are meaningless where profit is concerned. A business action is profitable, or it is not, and if it is, it has a measurable rate of profit we call the profit margin. A business interested in long term survival will maximize that margin with every means at their disposal.

So, word to the not so wise...if you are in a job that can be automated, rest assured that at some point in the future, IT WILL BE. Nobody cares, nor should they, that a machine replaced you.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:09 AM
 
Location: South Carolina
3,022 posts, read 2,274,837 times
Reputation: 2168
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
Companies do not care about "people"..they care about LABOR COSTS.
That is the problem companies could care less if their employees are homeless while working or living in a run down house they only care about their own selfish desire to make money. Money has come before people and it was the reason we had labor laws in the first place because businesses can not be left alone to do what they want it harms society.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:16 AM
 
Location: South Carolina
3,022 posts, read 2,274,837 times
Reputation: 2168
Quote:
Originally Posted by Volobjectitarian View Post
The fun of another greywar vs Mircea debate aside, a few facts remain:
  • There are lots of jobs that can be automated.
  • The useful life of an automaton can be calculated, and it's resulting "labor cost" on a per hour basis can be calculated.
  • If a business owner finds that the automaton is a better ROI than human employees, the automaton will get the job.
  • Profit is the purpose of business.
  • Lower costs increase profit.
Subjective emotions like caring, sympathy, etc are meaningless where profit is concerned. A business action is profitable, or it is not, and if it is, it has a measurable rate of profit we call the profit margin. A business interested in long term survival will maximize that margin with every means at their disposal.

So, word to the not so wise...if you are in a job that can be automated, rest assured that at some point in the future, IT WILL BE. Nobody cares, nor should they, that a machine replaced you.
You are right a lot of jobs can be automated and that includes the jobs of the people on here who are crapping on the poor but I doubt they believe that since they think they are so valuable to their company and untouchable for some reason. Profit is one reason to start a business but there are others and just because your main reason is profit does not mean you have to treat employees like crap plenty of businesses make profit and treat employees well like Costco, IN and OUT Burger Trader Joe's. You do not have to pay slave wages to make a profit.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:16 AM
 
Location: A great city, by a Great Lake!
15,896 posts, read 11,991,168 times
Reputation: 7502
Quote:
Originally Posted by Volobjectitarian View Post
The fun of another greywar vs Mircea debate aside, a few facts remain:
  • There are lots of jobs that can be automated.
  • The useful life of an automaton can be calculated, and it's resulting "labor cost" on a per hour basis can be calculated.
  • If a business owner finds that the automaton is a better ROI than human employees, the automaton will get the job.
  • Profit is the purpose of business.
  • Lower costs increase profit.
Subjective emotions like caring, sympathy, etc are meaningless where profit is concerned. A business action is profitable, or it is not, and if it is, it has a measurable rate of profit we call the profit margin. A business interested in long term survival will maximize that margin with every means at their disposal.

So, word to the not so wise...if you are in a job that can be automated, rest assured that at some point in the future, IT WILL BE. Nobody cares, nor should they, that a machine replaced you.

It sucks! But that is the reality of it! Businesses exist soley to make a profit, and are not there as a charity to create jobs! If there is a demand due to increased volume, then there will be more job creation. However; forcing businesses to comply with things such as more regulation, or mandatory federal minimum wage increases which absolutely cannot work due to the various economies in our country where standard of living varies from one place to the other, will hinder job growth. Businesses will pass the cost on to the customer, as well cut hours, or lay people off to compensate. Again... It's a cruel world, but it is reality.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:33 AM
 
13,961 posts, read 5,628,343 times
Reputation: 8617
Quote:
Originally Posted by Storm Eagle View Post
That is the problem companies could care less if their employees are homeless while working or living in a run down house they only care about their own selfish desire to make money. Money has come before people and it was the reason we had labor laws in the first place because businesses can not be left alone to do what they want it harms society.
Nobody works involuntarily in the United States. If you are being paid, you are being paid for a wage you agreed to.

According to the US Census, there 5.68 million businesses in the US, with 7.35 million places of employment. If you do not like the conditions at one job, there are other jobs out there. Go get one.

A job is a task that an employer/business owner needs to have performed. The determinant of whether the employer even hires someone for that task is if they have profitable return for the labor cost. If a task results in a net loss, it makes no sense for the task to be done. Now, let us say the task can be done profitably. OK, then the rate of compensation for that task will be based on the demand for the job, the supply of qualified workers, and both the industry and market in which the task exists. Mircea has gone to great lengths in the past to show how $30k in one market is vastly more profitable than $100k in another, where the employee's quality of life is concerned. So many factors go into a) whether the task will even be one that requires a paid employee doing it and if so b) what compensation level makes that task profitable to have done by a paid employee.

At no point in any business owner's financial strategy does the quality of the housing of an employee merit consideration. That is an employee consideration, and it should be one of the determining factors in whether they accept a job or not. If the pay is too low for them to fix their run down house, they should not take the job. The employee also acts on the basis of their own profitability. They do not care about the profit margin of the business when negotiating, they care about themselves and rightly so. Between the two parties, both acting in their own rational self-interest, a voluntary agreement is reached.

There's nothing wicked, unfair, evil or unfortunate about it. It's voluntary, it's very individual and personal, and both employer and employee know more about the employment agreement than anyone on the outside of it, including internet forum pundits.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,803 posts, read 41,019,978 times
Reputation: 62204
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cathy4017 View Post
The drive-through is where I would most like to be able to punch in an order--and it wouldn't surprise me if they go this route before long.
Yes. The audio is worse than a train station's. I've never been inside the McDonald's in my neighborhood and don't even have an idea of what it looks like. I've been going there for 7 and a half years. How about if you park your car at a parking lot kiosk, type in your order and then it get's to you like a drive-through window (with one of those air capsule type things) at the bank?

I'd like robot home delivery heck I wouldn't mind human home delivery. Right now, where I live (pop 30,000), only two pizza chains deliver. Even the Chinese places don't deliver. I'm thinking those new self driving cars they're testing might be the wave of the future for food delivery.

As far as blue collar jobs go when all of this automation kicks in, besides the computer-related work for which you'll need an education, I see a rosy future for plain old servicing and maintenance blue collar mechanics. The best part about it is those jobs can't be sent overseas much like plumbing, police, firefighter, utility, tree trimmer, landscaper, hairdresser, dog walker, babysitter, chimney sweep, electrical, etc., jobs that have to be done on location.

I do, though, see a decline for after-school jobs for teens.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:55 AM
 
13,961 posts, read 5,628,343 times
Reputation: 8617
Quote:
Originally Posted by Storm Eagle View Post
You are right a lot of jobs can be automated and that includes the jobs of the people on here who are crapping on the poor but I doubt they believe that since they think they are so valuable to their company and untouchable for some reason. Profit is one reason to start a business but there are others and just because your main reason is profit does not mean you have to treat employees like crap plenty of businesses make profit and treat employees well like Costco, IN and OUT Burger Trader Joe's. You do not have to pay slave wages to make a profit.
1) Slaves are involuntary workers being forced to labor for the benefit of another. Nobody employed in America is paid a slave's wage because nobody in America is laboring against their will.

2) Profit is the ONLY reason to start a business and it is the SOLE determinant of the survival of a business. If an activity is not profitable, it will not be done. Same goes for working. If the job is not profitable to the employee doing, they won't do it. How many things around your house do you DIY vs calling a pro? I could call a plumber and pay them $50 to replace a faulty aerator on my kitchen faucet, or I can spend $4 on the part and grab some pliers and do it myself. I choose to do it myself, thus "robbing" the plumber of $50 in compensation because at their price, the job was not profitable, but it was at my DIY price.

You make the exact same profitability decisions all the time, every day, forever and ever. How often do you choose to voluntarily overpay for the things you buy based on the quality of the home life of the person providing you a good or service? When you go to the grocery store, do you tip your cashier, the stockboys, the folks fetching carts out of the parking lot because you want to ensure they have a good quality home to live in? No, you don't.

This is a world of voluntary interactions, unless government is doing their "force the behavior" thing. Nobody gets cheated when they voluntarily agree to things.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:58 AM
 
17,401 posts, read 11,978,162 times
Reputation: 16155
Quote:
Originally Posted by Storm Eagle View Post
Laugh all you want automation is coming I hope if it takes your job you are ready but I am sure you are okay because you are a "millionaire" i am sure.
Automation already took my job. Over 20 years ago, the personal computer becoming popular meant everybody that owned one could now do "desktop publishing". Which took away the job I had been doing for many years, which was typesetting, paste-up and print production.

So instead of making excuses, or curling up into a ball in the corner wailing about how unfair life was, I learned to update my skills to include the computer.

Then the next wave came along, called "websites". Which meant instead of advertising being printed on paper, it was now uploaded to the internet.

So instead of making excuses, or curling up into a ball in the corner wailing about how unfair life was, I learned to update my skills to include web design.

The one thing I did NOT do was demand that society coddle me, because I wasn't willing to keep up with automation, and provide me a "living wage" just because it was hard to keep up with modern technology.

And no, I'm not some brilliant nerd that found any of this easy. I hate math, and am much more creative than critical in my thinking. But that doesn't pay the bills, and while it wasn't easy, I managed.
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Old 12-16-2014, 10:00 AM
 
17,401 posts, read 11,978,162 times
Reputation: 16155
Quote:
Originally Posted by greywar View Post
I discussed this with my stepson the other night. He wants a productive career, and is struggling to pick one as he prepares for college. High tech skills are not something he is good with, he knows this. Trying to find a non high tech field that makes a decent income is the challenge he is having.
Then have him learn a trade. There's no rule that says college is mandatory.
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