My friends and I have been talking, and I find this obsession with manufacturing so bizarre. Because you are absolutely right, with robots and AI, those jobs are most likely to vanish (whether you're an AI fan or not, that's just where things are going). I suspect we are heading more to a "Kerblam!" type situation where Doctor Who predicted that 10% of the workforce was going to be mandated to be "human powered" and 90% robots. Otherwise, capitalism will capitalism and we'll have all jobs available in service work. (Service work not being a bad thing...we Americans make a ton of our money that way but also pay folks the absolute lowest wages possible)
It seems like its mostly nostalgia run amok - remembering the "good" times of the Gilded Age and the golden age of capitalism, and conveniently forgetting the "bad" times, with folks used until they could no longer work and then tossed out to beg, families getting thrown out of their homes because their breadwinner was injured and couldn't work, and the old, disabled, and "unwanted" begging on street corners. With an entire layer of shadow economies in many cities from organized crime demanding protection on one side, and on the other, inflicting grievous bodily harm.
My hope is that the ongoing plans to cut Medicaid and Social Security (and no doubt Medicare) will awaken working, underemployed, and unemployed people to the tactics of the uber-rich to increase their already-excessive wealth via campaigns of distraction and "otherization." Billions of dirty dollars have flowed into this effort, buying and owning politicians to do their bidding. We need to ALL act together to stop this pillaging. I remember when income taxes on the rich were at 70%, in the era that was great (for some, but definitely not all, Americans). If we went back to this kind of tax, we could fix infrastructure, revamp scientific research, provide for our poor and disenfranchised, create an economy (and wage system) that was fair for all (not just the mega-corporations that increasingly demand greater "productivity" from its employees, in a thinly-guised undertaking to reduce staffing and overwork the remaining workers. We are in a system of capitalism run amok. Let's remember that all people matter, and that they deserve respect and dignity. And fair wages and working conditions. (And the uber-rich will still be rich--just a little bit less.
At the very least, if the 1% paid taxes it would solve a lot of our problems. I really hope we can right this ship and make a brighter future for all of us!
I remember my dismay when Steve Jobs moved Apple manufacturing to China. I deeply feared they would steal the technology and manufacture competing goods. And they evolved beyond what I imagined!
I wasn't tech focused at that point in my life, but you have such a rich and unique perspective coming from typesetting into the digital printing age and from fine art into graphic design.
China is gearing up to surpass us in every way, and it seems the folks steering our ship want to drag us back to the Dark Ages. Such a strange time to be alive.
I too am looking forward to a golden age for all, where we can all come together in love, hope and a better understanding of respect for all. Sparkle ✨️ on ❤️❤️
My friends and I have been talking, and I find this obsession with manufacturing so bizarre. Because you are absolutely right, with robots and AI, those jobs are most likely to vanish (whether you're an AI fan or not, that's just where things are going). I suspect we are heading more to a "Kerblam!" type situation where Doctor Who predicted that 10% of the workforce was going to be mandated to be "human powered" and 90% robots. Otherwise, capitalism will capitalism and we'll have all jobs available in service work. (Service work not being a bad thing...we Americans make a ton of our money that way but also pay folks the absolute lowest wages possible)
It seems like its mostly nostalgia run amok - remembering the "good" times of the Gilded Age and the golden age of capitalism, and conveniently forgetting the "bad" times, with folks used until they could no longer work and then tossed out to beg, families getting thrown out of their homes because their breadwinner was injured and couldn't work, and the old, disabled, and "unwanted" begging on street corners. With an entire layer of shadow economies in many cities from organized crime demanding protection on one side, and on the other, inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Spot on! Yes! We can't go back, we have to keep marching bravely forward.
My hope is that the ongoing plans to cut Medicaid and Social Security (and no doubt Medicare) will awaken working, underemployed, and unemployed people to the tactics of the uber-rich to increase their already-excessive wealth via campaigns of distraction and "otherization." Billions of dirty dollars have flowed into this effort, buying and owning politicians to do their bidding. We need to ALL act together to stop this pillaging. I remember when income taxes on the rich were at 70%, in the era that was great (for some, but definitely not all, Americans). If we went back to this kind of tax, we could fix infrastructure, revamp scientific research, provide for our poor and disenfranchised, create an economy (and wage system) that was fair for all (not just the mega-corporations that increasingly demand greater "productivity" from its employees, in a thinly-guised undertaking to reduce staffing and overwork the remaining workers. We are in a system of capitalism run amok. Let's remember that all people matter, and that they deserve respect and dignity. And fair wages and working conditions. (And the uber-rich will still be rich--just a little bit less.
At the very least, if the 1% paid taxes it would solve a lot of our problems. I really hope we can right this ship and make a brighter future for all of us!
I remember my dismay when Steve Jobs moved Apple manufacturing to China. I deeply feared they would steal the technology and manufacture competing goods. And they evolved beyond what I imagined!
I wasn't tech focused at that point in my life, but you have such a rich and unique perspective coming from typesetting into the digital printing age and from fine art into graphic design.
China is gearing up to surpass us in every way, and it seems the folks steering our ship want to drag us back to the Dark Ages. Such a strange time to be alive.
Yup.
I too am looking forward to a golden age for all, where we can all come together in love, hope and a better understanding of respect for all. Sparkle ✨️ on ❤️❤️
I remain ever hopeful!