Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The question of what to do with those who need the work, this is a question almost no one is prepared to answer. And consider this. You need people to work. People who work will get paid. Those who get paid will buy things. If you have a giant amount of the population out of work, that means alot of people who won't have money. Those who have little to spend will buy very little. Those automated check out machines and robots may not need to get paid, but they do need to be maintained. And it takes money to do that. If people don't buy, a store or other places can't turn a profit, or not much profit. No profit, no way to keep the machines maintained. We need people to maintain those machines, but not THAT MANY. With the large amount of people still out of work, stores turning profits would be difficult. It would get expensive to maintain the robots and automated machiines, and then more problems.
All right wing nut jobs just need to watch Andrew Yang and get an education on automation 101.
When it gets to trucking, a big chunk of Rush Limbaughs fanbase will also be losing their jobs, as more wealth moves up the food chain let's see how their robber baron rhetoric serves them then.
Now, the flip side says new job opportunities will be created from the efficiencies created by automation. Enough to make up for all the cashier and truck driver jobs? I guess we'll find out.
Yeah, I think you are right. I think companies are doing the math and it's cheaper to install a kiosk or self serve register over the long haul than pay someone 15 bucks an hour.
It's something that people just don't seem to want to get into their heads. If you force people to pay more for something that the market really wouldn't naturally settle at, then people will find ways to get around it. This stuff is human nature, they will also offload the higher costs onto the consumer and then now things cost more, requiring more money to get by, it just feels like a cycle here.
They were going this way with $3.65 minimum wage anyway.
I love self checkout. My introverted self can just do it and not have to do small talk. I have rarely had any problems checking out.
Plus... now the employees are free to do other tasks. I adore ordering my groceries online (less impulse buying and corralling kids) and picking them up. You can even have them delivered for a higher fee. All of this creates/keeps jobs still since someone has to pick my items and for those using delivery, drive them to the customer.
Automated checkouts has been a thing for over a decade now and are in heavy rotation at all of the Walmarts, Home depots etc.
I've not checked out the Amazon store yet but I hear there is one in Chicago in the Merchandise Mart and will check it out sometime this Summer. My sibling said it was really cool.
Yang has been beating the UBI drum for awhile now. I think unfortunately it might come down to implementing a UBI in the coming decades, I don't this happening tomorrow, but at some point the automation of things might get to the point of that.
We can observe several situations and industries over the last 150 plus years where automation has displaced workers, the differences were back then a lot of other jobs were created to help offset some of those loses. I don't see that see same level of creation/offset happening moving forward, due to the extreme technical nature of how the world going.
I can see it happening. The other thing I can see happening is a huge growth in underground economies. Lower income people will do what they have to do in order to buy the cars, clothes, and homes they see on television.
All right wing nut jobs just need to watch Andrew Yang and get an education on automation 101.
When it gets to trucking, a big chunk of Rush Limbaughs fanbase will also be losing their jobs, as more wealth moves up the food chain let's see how their robber baron rhetoric serves them then.
Now, the flip side says new job opportunities will be created from the efficiencies created by automation. Enough to make up for all the cashier and truck driver jobs? I guess we'll find out.
I don't think even watching Andrew Yang is necessary to understand. Simple math is enough. 3.4 million people work as cashiers. That is 6% of the work force. 3.5 million people work as truck drivers. That is another 6 to 6.1% of the work force. Once automation hits those industries, that is about 12% of the workforce affected.
Now, new opportunities could come out of automation. The question is this: How many?
I can see it happening. The other thing I can see happening is a huge growth in underground economies. Lower income people will do what they have to do in order to buy the cars, clothes, and homes they see on television.
Alot of places are not feasible places to live without a car.
Work from home, take a bus, buy an inexpensive car, or move close to work. It's not too tough to figure out. Granted there are less old used cars that the poorer people can purchase since Obama got rid of them in his cash for clunkers failure.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
