Robots are coming for your job

[Freewill]

What is going to happen? Millions of under educated and low skilled are flooding out borders. Mrs. Clinton says that if elected she is going to put a lot of coal miners out of work. She says that she will put them to work in tech industries. Which could be true for some of the younger coal miners.

Where do you think we are heading as a country?

The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution has found its first victims: blue-collar workers and the poor.

Robots are coming for your job

In other words, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution has found its first victims: blue-collar workers and the poor.

The general response in working America is disbelief or outright denial. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 80% of Americans think their job will still exist in 50 years, and only 11% of today's workers were worried about losing their job to automation. Some — like my former colleagues at the CIA – insist that their specialized skills and knowledge can't be replaced by artificial intelligence. That is, until they see plans for autonomous drones that don't require a human hand and automated imagery analysis that outperforms human eyes.

 

[BULLDOG]

Everybody knows that the growth of technology is faster now than any other time in history. Are you saying this is a bad thing that should be stopped? Which scientific advances do you want to limit? More importantly, who do you want to blame for our advances?

 

[Norman]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

 

[HenryBHough]

We're headed for a Utopia in which nobody will ever have to work!

A Utopia where government determines what each of us needs and provides it.

FREE!

(as long as it lasts)

 

[BULLDOG]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

 

[Norman]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

 

[BULLDOG]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

 

[Norman]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

 

[BULLDOG]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Improved technology has always, and will always help us, but to say it has never caused permanent job loss is stupid. Buggy makers were devastated by the auto industry. The print media is almost gone because of the advent of the internet. Advances will always leave people behind. In a country by the people and for the people, we have an obligation to help those left behind until they are able to find their new place in society.

 

[Norman]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Improved technology has always, and will always help us, but to say it has never caused permanent job loss is stupid. Buggy makers were devastated by the auto industry. The print media is almost gone because of the advent of the internet. Advances will always leave people behind. In a country by the people and for the people, we have an obligation to help those left behind until they are able to find their new place in society.

You idiot, I am talking about the whole economy! Sure some people will leave behind... but particularly funny is that you are complaining about entry level jobs. No one cares if entry level jobs are left behind. The real problem is if you are a nuclear engineer and studied for that for years, and then someone comes up with something better and you lose your job. This is rare and of course, skilled people can usually find work in other fields anyway. But this is not even the argument the "technologists" are making... they really just want to scam over your money.

 

[BULLDOG]

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Improved technology has always, and will always help us, but to say it has never caused permanent job loss is stupid. Buggy makers were devastated by the auto industry. The print media is almost gone because of the advent of the internet. Advances will always leave people behind. In a country by the people and for the people, we have an obligation to help those left behind until they are able to find their new place in society.

You idiot, I am talking about the whole economy! Sure some people will leave behind... but particularly funny is that you are complaining about entry level jobs. No one cares if entry level jobs are left behind. The real problem is if you are a nuclear engineer and studied for that for years, and then someone comes up with something better and you lose your job. This is rare and of course, skilled people can usually find work in other fields anyway. But this is not even the argument the "technologists" are making... they really just want to scam over your money.

No, I'm not complaining about anything. I'm trying to discuss the subject of the thread. You seem to have some other issue on your mind, so I'll leave you to that.

 

[FA_Q2]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Not true. People lose work permanently when the technology becomes efficient enough that fewer people do not need to work.

Before the industrial age, virtually everyone worked. The children were out there sowing the seeds and harvesting the crops as soon as possible. Today, many families have multiple children and only one adult that has to work.

In this case, permanent job losses through technology was a good thing. There were some SERIOUS growing pains to get there though. I fully expect the same thing here.

 

[g5000]

Robots have been taking jobs for quite a while now.

At least half of manufacturing jobs have been lost due to automation, not foreign competition. Increasing efficiency on capital investment is one of the things which makes the US exceptional.

We are actually making more stuff than ever.

Losing jobs to technology:

 

[Norman]

Robots only take the job of those who spend 20 years in public school and have nothing to show for it with their gender studies degrees.

Today, you need to be smart about education. Is it worth it to have entire departments in universities dedicated to marxist indoctrination? What type of job market skills does this provide? Leeching and parasiting off of other people while crying sexism and racism is not a valuable skill in the jobs market. In fact, you pay to avoid such personalities.

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Not true. People lose work permanently when the technology becomes efficient enough that fewer people do not need to work.

Before the industrial age, virtually everyone worked. The children were out there sowing the seeds and harvesting the crops as soon as possible. Today, many families have multiple children and only one adult that has to work.

In this case, permanent job losses through technology was a good thing. There were some SERIOUS growing pains to get there though. I fully expect the same thing here.

Complete bullshit. Children stopped working because people could afford it, not because there weren't enough jobs for them. Also it became more efficient to train them instead of put them to work straight away, since that's not very efficient. Besides that, how do you explain the 70s when women ENTERED into the work force.

Technology doesn't destroy jobs. Maybe in the utopian future it will, but that is still hundreds years ahead. Stop worrying.

 

[g5000]

Mrs. Clinton says that if elected she is going to put a lot of coal miners out of work. She says that she will put them to work in tech industries. Which could be true for some of the younger coal miners.

A century ago, we employed 50 percent of our population in agriculture to feed our nation.

Now, due to the wonders of technology, it only takes about 3 percent of our population to feed us, and they are producing more food than in all of human history.

What would you make of someone decrying the loss of agriculture jobs who felt we needed to employ 50 percent of the country on farms?

You'd say there were seriously misguided, yes?

It's the same thing with these demagogues and manufacturing.

Let's travel back in time 60 years...

FARMER: What will my toddler son do when he grows up if he isn't going to be a farmer, dad blast it?

PSYCHIC: (*peers into crystal ball*) Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon.

FARMER: What's a satellite, and WHAT THE HELL IS A VERIZON!?!

PSYCHIC: I don't know, but if I were you, I'd be whipping him with a switch if he doesn't get straight A's in mathematics and science.

FARMER: Will he be handsome? Will he be rich?

PSYCHIC: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...

 

[g5000]

Technology doesn't destroy jobs.

Sure it does. Just ask the horsewhip and buggy manufacturers what automotive technology did to their jobs. And then ask the automotive workers what robots have done to their jobs. Ask Swiss watchmakers what digital watches did to their jobs.

Creative destruction.

Technology destroys jobs, but it also creates new jobs.

This is why we have to educate our children for the jobs of tomorrow, not their fathers' jobs.

 

[Freewill]

Mrs. Clinton says that if elected she is going to put a lot of coal miners out of work. She says that she will put them to work in tech industries. Which could be true for some of the younger coal miners.

A century ago, we employed 50 percent of our population in agriculture to feed our nation.

Now, due to the wonders of technology, it only takes about 3 percent of our population to feed us, and they are producing more food than in all of human history.

What would you make of someone decrying the loss of agriculture jobs who felt we needed to employ 50 percent of the country on farms?

You'd say there were seriously misguided, yes?

It's the same thing with these demagogues and manufacturing.

Let's travel back in time 60 years...

FARMER: What will my toddler son do when he grows up if he isn't going to be a farmer, dad blast it?

PSYCHIC: (*peers into crystal ball*) Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon.

FARMER: What's a satellite, and WHAT THE HELL IS A VERIZON!?!

PSYCHIC: I don't know, but if I were you, I'd be whipping him with a switch if he doesn't get straight A's in mathematics and science.

FARMER: Will he be handsome? Will he be rich?

PSYCHIC: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...

Well I guess all the unemployed can go to robot factories and help create and train their replacements. There was a difference 50 or more years ago, the industrial revolution made jobs for those who didn't want to stay on the farms. There were mill jobs for those who couldn't or wouldn't be educated. Most of those jobs have dried up. So what that leaves are the service industry which leads to wage stagnation. Why do you think they just want to give everyone a raise to 15 dollars? They want to do that to try and save their failed "free" trade agreements. Or more to the point, redistribute wealth, the old fashioned way, taking it.

I am putting you in the 80 percent bracket who assume their jobs are not the ones to be replaced.

Think about it, do we really need stock brokers? What do they do that a robot can't do better (computer)? Doctors? Step into this machine and it will tell you what is wrong with you and if you government sponsored insurance will pay for it. Sheetz already has automated food service where the customers works for the company for nothing. Same with self-serve gas stations. Bank tellers? Why when we have ATMS and smart phones?

 

[FA_Q2]

Robots already took most Bank Teller jobs (ATM machines) and a large part of our manufacturing jobs. Are you saying all those displaced workers had gender studies degrees?

No, I am not saying that. Although some of them might.

I am saying that these gender study degree social justice warriors deserve to be jobless and broke. They made the choice fully knowing the consequences. No one competent cares whether there are bank teller jobs available. You could be spending this time interning and learning how to program or something other much more valuable. As our technology improves, the opportunities get better, not worse. This is how it has always been and if you for some magical reason think it's not like that this time, well you better have some good reason to back that up! More likely it's just that useless people are complaining that they can't have jobs and pointing to whatever they can as an excuse... to justify government benefits.

If you want to whine about people receiving government benefits, I suggest you find a thread on that subject, or start one of your own. This one is about robots taking jobs, which is happening at an increasing rate, and will continue to increase. Lots of workforce changes will be required, but most of the liberal arts degrees will be unaffected as far as they relate to manufacturing. A political science major has less to worry about from automation than almost every other field of study.

Dude, the movement's whole goal is to have government pay for their shit because "robots". If you can't see that you are delusional. Technology has always "destroyed" jobs, but the lowering costs make completely new type of jobs possible. That's what everyone has apparently forgotten to tell you. Never has permanent jobs losses been reported as result of superior technology.... the same can't be said of welfare.

Not true. People lose work permanently when the technology becomes efficient enough that fewer people do not need to work.

Before the industrial age, virtually everyone worked. The children were out there sowing the seeds and harvesting the crops as soon as possible. Today, many families have multiple children and only one adult that has to work.

In this case, permanent job losses through technology was a good thing. There were some SERIOUS growing pains to get there though. I fully expect the same thing here.

Complete bullshit. Children stopped working because people could afford it, not because there weren't enough jobs for them. Also it became more efficient to train them instead of put them to work straight away, since that's not very efficient. Besides that, how do you explain the 70s when women ENTERED into the work force.

Technology doesn't destroy jobs. Maybe in the utopian future it will, but that is still hundreds years ahead. Stop worrying.

Who said I was worrying?

I said that it would be a good thing. Further, I never said that people did not stop working because they could now afford it. That is what automation and efficiency does. That is what is going to happen again.

 

[Norman]

Technology doesn't destroy jobs.

Sure it does. Just ask the horsewhip manufacturers what automotive technology did to their jobs. And then ask the automotive workers what robots have done to their jobs.

Creative destruction.

Technology destroys jobs, but it also creates new jobs.

This is why we have to educate our children for the jobs of tomorrow, not their fathers' jobs.

Mrs. Clinton says that if elected she is going to put a lot of coal miners out of work. She says that she will put them to work in tech industries. Which could be true for some of the younger coal miners.

A century ago, we employed 50 percent of our population in agriculture to feed our nation.

Now, due to the wonders of technology, it only takes about 3 percent of our population to feed us, and they are producing more food than in all of human history.

What would you make of someone decrying the loss of agriculture jobs who felt we needed to employ 50 percent of the country on farms?

You'd say there were seriously misguided, yes?

It's the same thing with these demagogues and manufacturing.

Let's travel back in time 60 years...

FARMER: What will my toddler son do when he grows up if he isn't going to be a farmer, dad blast it?

PSYCHIC: (*peers into crystal ball*) Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon.

FARMER: What's a satellite, and WHAT THE HELL IS A VERIZON!?!

PSYCHIC: I don't know, but if I were you, I'd be whipping him with a switch if he doesn't get straight A's in mathematics and science.

FARMER: Will he be handsome? Will he be rich?

PSYCHIC: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...

Think about it, do we really need stock brokers? What do they do that a robot can't do better (computer)? Doctors? Step into this machine and it will tell you what is wrong with you and if you government sponsored insurance will pay for it. Sheetz already has automated food service where the customers works for the company for nothing. Same with self-serve gas stations. Bank tellers? Why when we have ATMS and smart phones?

One of the strangest thing about this argument is indeed assuming that the future is already here...

 

[g5000]

Mrs. Clinton says that if elected she is going to put a lot of coal miners out of work. She says that she will put them to work in tech industries. Which could be true for some of the younger coal miners.

A century ago, we employed 50 percent of our population in agriculture to feed our nation.

Now, due to the wonders of technology, it only takes about 3 percent of our population to feed us, and they are producing more food than in all of human history.

What would you make of someone decrying the loss of agriculture jobs who felt we needed to employ 50 percent of the country on farms?

You'd say there were seriously misguided, yes?

It's the same thing with these demagogues and manufacturing.

Let's travel back in time 60 years...

FARMER: What will my toddler son do when he grows up if he isn't going to be a farmer, dad blast it?

PSYCHIC: (*peers into crystal ball*) Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon.

FARMER: What's a satellite, and WHAT THE HELL IS A VERIZON!?!

PSYCHIC: I don't know, but if I were you, I'd be whipping him with a switch if he doesn't get straight A's in mathematics and science.

FARMER: Will he be handsome? Will he be rich?

PSYCHIC: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...

Well I guess all the unemployed can go to robot factories and help create and train their replacements. There was a difference 50 or more years ago, the industrial revolution made jobs for those who didn't want to stay on the farms. There were mill jobs for those who couldn't or wouldn't be educated. Most of those jobs have dried up. So what that leaves are the service industry which leads to wage stagnation. Why do you think they just want to give everyone a raise to 15 dollars? They want to do that to try and save their failed "free" trade agreements. Or more to the point, redistribute wealth, the old fashioned way, taking it.

I am putting you in the 80 percent bracket who assume their jobs are not the ones to be replaced.

Think about it, do we really need stock brokers? What do they do that a robot can't do better (computer)? Doctors? Step into this machine and it will tell you what is wrong with you and if you government sponsored insurance will pay for it. Sheetz already has automated food service where the customers works for the company for nothing. Same with self-serve gas stations. Bank tellers? Why when we have ATMS and smart phones?

"Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon."

Imagine telling a farmer that 60 years ago. You couldn't, because you had no way of knowing that kind of job and that kind of technology and that company were even going to exist.

But you could prepare for that kind of future. And someone obviously did prepare the way for that future, because here we are.

We need to keep being forward looking, not bemoaning lost horse and buggy jobs.