“The Luddites, who smashed machinery during the Industrial Revolution, were right to fight back. Much like today’s factory workers, they weren’t going to benefit from new technology.”
Fast forward a few years and the craftsmen who hand-darned socks while living in hovels with nothing in the way of amenities had taken jobs maintaining and feeding the sock machines. They lived in houses with chamber pots, owned machine made cutlery and tea pots, from which they could pour the newest drink, tea. Yes, there was a huge disruption from the “comfortable” status quo. But that disruption drove even more change. People immigrated to get a better life. People took jobs that stretched their minds and improved their living standards. It wasn’t all roses, by all means.
Make no mistake, striking dock workers are trying to keep things the way they were to maintain socialist benefits like free health care and defined benefit pensions, both of which have already disappeared for most of us. They are, because of their contracts, hugely overpaid and that is driving innovation and AI to replace them just like the threat of $15/hour minimum wages drove the development of the automated McDonald’s.
Automation is one reason why America should stop immigration by unskilled, illiterate people. They already have limited chances for success and mostly become a burden on the public charge. America needs innovation to keep ahead of the other world’s powers, like China. America is currently at full employment but as innovation and automation take effect workers at the bottom must either learn new skills or give up. Whether they adapt or not will be a function of their inherent IQ. (Among other factors.)
It is hard to measure how difficult life was *before* the industrial revolution. That is what is often missed.
One big difference was the price of cloth. The price of clothing yourself dropped significantly.
The automated McDonalds at the moment is just the placing of the order and the payment. I like the automation. It gives me a look at the entire menu and I do not have to wait in line to place the order. Speedier it is.
I have had repeated conversations with my 3 sons on this issue. I actually think the universal basic income will be ushered in because of the technical disruption of AI and robotics.
The real issue is what do you do with the people that lose their jobs over this? I don’t think those jobs will be replaced. I think in the long run, the deal will be “if you get sterilized, you get to have UBI and free medical care, and oh btw, you get basic entertainment (phone, Internet, etc), but you have to be sterilized”.
Robots don’t steal stuff from the docks, either.