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Changes in society and in technology mean new jobs in different areas and old jobs are phased out.
Median wages have been flat for 40 years, while productivity has risen >80%. That isn't an encouraging trend. And we haven't even gotten to a point of significant tech unemployment.
It's simple arithmetic, nothing esoteric. There has been no big job loss problem for the last 200 years because productivity gains were equally shared with consumers (until the 1970s anyway). Increased broad demand is what created new jobs, while higher productivity made everyone richer.
This will *not* be the case going forward, unless we force it to happen. Many people will very soon find themselves with no skill or potential skill that is worth paying them a decent wage. What then?
This is the same, same, old argument about buggy whips. Changes in society and in technology mean new jobs in different areas and old jobs are phased out. With all of the overseas manufacturing and automation and robotics and computerization, plenty of jobs have been phased out but unemployment has sunk to under 5%. That is really, really low considering many people want unemployment and do not want to work. Many are lazy. Many are on drugs. Many are felons no one wants to hire. And a great many have virtually no skills.
Sorry mate but you argument went out with the buggy whips.
In the past one could simply go back to school. But today how does an average IQ person magically boost their IQ high enough so that they can compete? The truth is the majority of people are simply not smart enough .
Have you seen the drop out rates in hard sciences when the entry requirements are lowered? Most people just cant plow through the hard science, they cant grok the math, they need it explained a dozen times and still don't retain a full understanding. Sure they might grind through but then the fail in the workplace.
software and Hardware are making millions of people much less valuable than ever before.
This is exactly why we see such a defined bifurcation of incomes. The big group consists people who can be replaced with relative ease while the small group are those who have the skills that are in demand.
Just think of basketball. Excluding outliers, there is virtually zero player slots for short players. Competitive pressure means only a fraction of 1% of people who would play basketball for living will ever get that job.
Well that is what has been happening in the workplace.
There is no easy answer. But if we blame to under-employed, if we blame the unemployed all we will be doing is setting ourselves up for failure. We need to realize that unlike climate change we have almost no power to slow or stop this process, thus we must embrace it, and find a path that is inclusive and less likely to led to conflict
"In the beginning, there was man. And for a time, it was good. But humanity's so-called civil societies soon fell victim to vanity and corruption. Then man made the machine in his own likeness. Thus did man become the architect of his own demise." - Zion Computer (Animatrix)
If your job looks to be threatened by automata, just remember to shout:"Klaatu barada nikto".
Median wages have been flat for 40 years, while productivity has risen >80%. That isn't an encouraging trend. And we haven't even gotten to a point of significant tech unemployment.
........
That is a misleading statistic. Upper middle class households with a 6 figure income have been growing nicely. Over 60 million Americans live in such a household. The bottom half of the middle class has been falling behind. There are fewer and fewer good paying jobs for those without strong skills and/or a college degree.
That is a misleading statistic. Upper middle class households with a 6 figure income have been growing nicely. Over 60 million Americans live in such a household. The bottom half of the middle class has been falling behind. There are fewer and fewer good paying jobs for those without strong skills and/or a college degree.
You have to get to the 99.9%ile before you exceed the 80% productivity rise. Everyone below that level has been basically screwed. That includes pretty much everyone who makes money with "strong skills and/or a college degree."
Somebody has to build, repair, maintain, and install all those robots.
There are already robots for that.
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