3 ms·

Yes the transport issue is a big one for the US, however I'm talking globally. It's myopic to simply look at the US when talking about things that affect the US

by ramy_d 11y ago

Yes the transport issue is a big one for the US, however I'm talking globally. It's myopic to simply look at the US when talking about things that affect the US. The US doesn't grow its own food, and we should keep that in mind when reading stuff like this. Rather, I'm trying to take a look at these percentages of farming workforces by country: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS and trying to see what is this new monster of globalization + automation going to do to countries like Egypt, Pakistan, and basically any country that registers anything over 20% on that website. It's my opinion that the next 20 to 40 years are going to be formative when it comes to introducing technology that could radically change a country's class system - Automated transportation in the US being that technology case study. Others will look to the US to see how and if a technology that is developed in large parts in the US is allowed to take over US jobs. At what rate does the it take place? Will there be limitations? Will it be mandated by your Congress? What will happen to your economy? There was a really good AMA on reddit recently about the economics and ethics of automation and when it came to transportation, the writing was one the wall: it's going to get worse before it gets better. https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/45k2pv/science_ama_series_we_study_how_intelligent https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/45k2pv/science_ama...

gozur88 11y ago
>The US doesn't grow its own food, and we should keep that in mind when reading stuff like this. Not sure what you mean by that. The US is a net food exporter by more than 70 million metric tons. Yes, other countries have more people in farming by percentage. But those people will be pushed out of farming by automation whether or not there are robotic farms.
- ramy_d 11y ago
  > Not sure what you mean by that. The US is a net food exporter by more than 70 million metric tons. you're right, http://www.fdaimports.com/blog/how-much-of-u-s-food-is-imported/ http://www.fdaimports.com/blog/how-much-of-u-s-food-is-impor... but it doesn't change the matter of concern: what happens to those other countries' economic development when a large percentage of their workforce is rapidly made non-existent.

by ramy_d 11y ago

gozur88 11y ago

>The US doesn't grow its own food, and we should keep that in mind when reading stuff like this. Not sure what you mean by that. The US is a net food exporter by more than 70 million metric tons. Yes, other countries have more people in farming by percentage. But those people will be pushed out of farming by automation whether or not there are robotic farms.

ramy_d 11y ago
> Not sure what you mean by that. The US is a net food exporter by more than 70 million metric tons. you're right, http://www.fdaimports.com/blog/how-much-of-u-s-food-is-imported/ http://www.fdaimports.com/blog/how-much-of-u-s-food-is-impor... but it doesn't change the matter of concern: what happens to those other countries' economic development when a large percentage of their workforce is rapidly made non-existent.