Impeachment?

To Rob:

If the monolithic American Business community of your nightmares wishes to automate, they will automate. They hardly need an environment where money to buy automation equipment is scarce and expensive, their profits are low because people are not buying their wares, and their stockholders/backers/supporters are running scared.

Any logic is stunningly absent from your argument.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Any logic is stunningly absent from your argument.

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Perhaps you meant to respond to Rob.

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Originally Posted by bae

Write poetry. Sing songs. Think deep thoughts. Love their family. Have dinner with friends. Research on the frontiers of human knowledge. Document the past. Fight evil. Clean up the Earth.



You are moving the goalposts here. I was unaware it was my job to "propose something to minimize the evil side of turbo charged capitalism". Is working in an Amazon shipping warehouse a relaxing and rewarding use of one's life, or is it in fact already the evil side of turbo charged capitalism? By pointing out that robots could shortly do that job, thus freeing people for more rewarding pursuits, why do you assign me the burden of Fixing All The Things?

How many buggywhip makers are out there today? What happened to them?

If you want my proposals though, look to Derrick Jensen.

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I've read Derrick Jensen (Endgame Parts I and II) and I love him--but can you recap for me his vision of the future, and how it aligns with yours? I'm just curious. I agree with getting rid of mind-numbing, soul-sucking jobs by any means necessary, especially those prone to exploitation. My idea of a great next step would be to approach the Nearings' 4 hours of "bread labor," 4 hours of community work and 4 hours of leisure.

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Originally Posted by bae

Write poetry. Sing songs. Think deep thoughts. Love their family. Have dinner with friends. Research on the frontiers of human knowledge. Document the past. Fight evil. Clean up the Earth.



You are moving the goalposts here. I was unaware it was my job to "propose something to minimize the evil side of turbo charged capitalism". Is working in an Amazon shipping warehouse a relaxing and rewarding use of one's life, or is it in fact already the evil side of turbo charged capitalism? By pointing out that robots could shortly do that job, thus freeing people for more rewarding pursuits, why do you assign me the burden of Fixing All The Things?

How many buggywhip makers are out there today? What happened to them?

If you want my proposals though, look to Derrick Jensen.

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I love your first paragraph and would personally welcome such....with one caveat. On what money? Where is the money for food and lodging coming from? You could talk of universal basic income but in some US cities that will not be enough to buy you a group rental situation and food, let alone a bus pass. I can only see universal income working if Americans exported themselves to lower costs - and how realistic is this? Witness the blockback my posts regarding such have received in the past.

I'm not saying you propose bad ideas, and I"m actually down with them. I just question how realistic they are is all. Rob

Came back to add that I will look into this Derrick Jensen. Rob

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

If the monolithic American Business community of your nightmares wishes to automate, they will automate. They hardly need an environment where money to buy automation equipment is scarce and expensive, their profits are low because people are not buying their wares, and their stockholders/backers/supporters are running scared.

Any logic is stunningly absent from your argument.

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And here's a heaving helping of logic for you, IL. Less pushback/blowback from the general public if AI and automation are held off until th he next nasty downtown....an economically.fearful population is more likely to accept job losses due to technology without revolt. Why do you think Kroger's and Wal Mart still have cashiers, though the technology exists already to replace them? Next recession many such jobs will be permanently gone with the wind, minus any Civil War being necessary. Rob

I don’t think there’s much danger of a Luddite rebellion in any case, but I suspect you will see more technology investment when times are good. There’s more capital available, competing labor is more expensive and a more optimistic view of the potential return on investment prevails.

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Originally Posted by bae

Perhaps you meant to respond to Rob.

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oh yes! I fixed it.

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Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife

And here's a heaving helping of logic for you, IL. Less pushback/blowback from the general public if AI and automation are held off until th he next nasty downtown....an economically.fearful population is more likely to accept job losses due to technology without revolt. Why do you think Kroger's and Wal Mart still have cashiers, though the technology exists already to replace them? Next recession many such jobs will be permanently gone with the wind, minus any Civil War being necessary. Rob

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I agree with you that there is some public relations pushback about automating jobs for places like Walmart, where the American public sees and touches the automation. That isn’t the case for many many other businesses that have grounds never trodden by the American public. It all can go on behind closed doors.

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Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife

I love your first paragraph and would personally welcome such....with one caveat. On what money? Where is the money for food and lodging coming from?

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What is "money"?