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Friday, May 27, 2016

ROBONOMICS


ROBONOMICS

A cranky opinion for

CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with little expertise on the topic opined.  Opposing opinions are welcome, but they are wrong.  As always, please, no name calling, that means you, you big stupid head.

I just saw an article where 60,000 workers making Apple products in China are being replaced with robots.  In the US, McDonalds is warning that a high minimum wage will make it cost effective to replace workers with robots.

With today’s technology virtually any repetitive job can be replaced by robots, and with computers, as the repetitive job changes, robots can be reprogrammed cheaply.

Years ago when ever automation threatened jobs, the new technology itself created new jobs which were generally higher paying.  Computers and communication devises created new industries and employment was not adversely effected.

I am afraid robots will not have the same effect.  Robots will replace low skill, low income jobs in the near term, and more complicated jobs in the future.  Robots are expensive to develop and institute, but they work for free, will work overtime and will work on holidays.  They are always on time, don’t complain, and they demand no healthcare or retirement expenses.  Robots do not go on strike.

It is only a matter of time.  Perhaps the only good thing for our country will be manufacturing may stay in the States.  When labor only costs the price of a robot, there is no reason to manufacture overseas.  Perhaps we will gain supervisory jobs, but we may lose so many more.

Jobs flipping burgers…gone.  Jobs in landscaping…gone.  Clerical work…gone.

Low to minimum wage jobs, entry level jobs will be hard to find.

We will need workers in skilled positions like never before:  engineers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, welders and more.  Our higher education system needs to produce more skilled workers and less History and Ethnic Study majors.  High school needs to teach advanced computer skills math and communication skills.

Robototics will take over many low wage jobs.  More than ever we need to convert low wage workers into higher wage skilled positions.

It is fine to worry about everyone’s bathroom rights, climate change is a legitimate concern, guns are a worry, and wedding cakes for gay people are a problem, but if we have massive unemployment, those issues will seem insignificant.

The most important thing this country needs to focus on is jobs, good jobs, skilled jobs, jobs that will not be taken over by machines.  If we have massive unemployment, we will have massive crime and massive drug problems, we will have riots.  All the problems this country currently faces will only be magnified if we cannot find new jobs and train workers to fill new job requirements.

Without jobs people have no dignity and without dignity the country as we know it will not survive.

We have problems on the periphery, but we must not take our eyes away from the ball.  It is always the economy stupid.

The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.

14 comments:

  1. I'm really curious about the upcoming election; wondering if the forerunner for one of the parties will be able to bring jobs back to America. I'm hopeful robots as workers won't catch on more than they already have in some industries. Although there are days I really don't like my job, I'm not ready to not be working and retired (8 years before I'll be eligible). I can't imagine young able bodied people wanting to work and not being able to find work because robots have taken over the fields.

    betty

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  2. Robots do not go on strike.
    But they do break down and repairmen will still be needed, until a repair robot is invented, but how will the repair robot know he is needed? A broken down robot will not be able to say "hey Sam, I'm malfunctioning, can you check my control panel?"

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  3. Same in my country. It's all very depressing and makes me glad I won't be around when robots take over.

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  4. Well, the Jetsons had a robot maid in the 60's and here I am 50 years later, still waiting on mine, so I'm not worried.

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  5. We COULD do that... or we can work together to take out the robots.

    Have you seen any of the Terminator movies?

    Join me in taking out the robots!

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  6. Interesting post and I totally agree it will happen but I do think it is a long way off though we all ready have robotic assembly lines, surgery and baseball is currently talking about having fox-track call the balls and strikes. Hopefully as with most industrial revolutions, the supervisors, builders of robots and the mechanics will prosper. We are a pretty adaptive species.

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  7. I so agree that the economy is the first and only major issue. Everything else is far less important. I know that lots of jobs have been automated over the years, and that will continue to happen.

    Have a fabulous day Cranky. ☺

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  8. The most realistic/common sense view of the issues that face us I've heard in quite a while. Yes, LGBT/abortion/right to life/environment etc issues are important, but they all must take a back seat to people having jobs. As you said, without good, plentiful jobs, our whole scheme of society collapses. And this whole idea of a $15 minimum wage seems to me to be just a short term band aid. If the burger flipper gets a 100% raise, won't the $15 an hour carpenter want a 100% raise, too? And the $30 an hour electrician will want a raise, as will the $60 an hour ___....and we're back where we started. It's just a stupid vicious circle, a dumb idea, UNLESS YOU'RE PANDERING FOR VOTES!

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  9. You claim not to be an expert on the subject, but you certainly do make sense to me!

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  10. I remember reading an article about how robots and computers would eliminate jobs and lead to mass unemployment, collapsing economies, etc. The article painted a very depressing and disturbing picture of our future. Entire job categories would be wiped out. The article recommended going into organic farming and becoming as self-sufficient as possible, living off the grid as much as possible.
    Except I read this article when I was in high school in the mid-70's ... and it hasn't happened yet.

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  11. I love Bijoux's answer - I'm with her! I think there will always be jobs for those willing to work - I don't think robots are going to take over the world. Also, consumers will pay for any increase in minimum wage - and consumers are both rich and poor.

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  12. Yes, we need more tech schools to train the robot-builders and robot-repairers. We've already stopped teaching kids to write cursive, you know. Baby steps.

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  13. I think you're right about the economy. Other issues are also incredibly important, but certainly take a backseat to being able to earn a living.

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