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>> “They are scared of losing their jobs to mechanization,” [..] “A robot is not going to rent a house, buy clothing for their kids, buy food in a grocery and r

>> “They are scared of losing their jobs to mechanization,” [..] “A robot is not going to rent a house, buy clothing for their kids, buy food in a grocery and reinvest that money in the local economy.” A robot won't do those things, but in the long run the ex-farm workers will move to urban areas where they'll get jobs, rent houses, buy clothing for their kids... That's what happened a century ago when the first wave of mechanization in the first world began a trend that reduced agricultural employment from >90% of all jobs to <5%. Everything will be fine and the everyone's standard of living will rise...in the long run. In the meantime, let's try to avoid a populist revolution.

barsonme 9y ago
> but in the long run the ex-farm workers will move to urban areas where they'll get jobs, rent houses, buy clothing for their kids... Let's take Washington state as an example. Where are the workers going to move? Seattle? Where rent is ridiculously high? What jobs will they get when more and more jobs these days require college degrees and manufacturing is going away? The job and housing market today is distinctly different from 100 years ago—we place higher emphasis on schooling and training and many jobs that do not require some form of schooling don't pay enough to support a family (mostly because they're not designed to). Please don't construe my comment as endorsing some sort of populist revolution. I just find it very hard to believe hordes of migrant workers (many of which are here illegally, don't speak much English, perhaps have little schooling, etc.) will just waltz on into cities and out of thin air procure jobs that pay enough to cover rent, food, and clothing—especially when they only reason they can support a family on an apple picker's salary of a couple hundred bucks a day is because they live in the cheapest part of the state. I mean, if it was that easy why wouldn't they do it already? Cities offer vastly more resources for poor folk than central Washington orchards do, so all they gain from picking apples is familiarity and perhaps the support network of working with similar people.
- fludlight 9y ago
  The reason I mentioned the long run and a populist revolutionist because it takes many years for the labor force to adjust. An entire generation that can't find productive jobs for a decade is a very dangerous thing. This led to considerable political turmoil in the US in the 1930s. Unfortunately, I see something similar on the horizon in the service sector.

barsonme 9y ago

> but in the long run the ex-farm workers will move to urban areas where they'll get jobs, rent houses, buy clothing for their kids... Let's take Washington state as an example. Where are the workers going to move? Seattle? Where rent is ridiculously high? What jobs will they get when more and more jobs these days require college degrees and manufacturing is going away? The job and housing market today is distinctly different from 100 years ago—we place higher emphasis on schooling and training and many jobs that do not require some form of schooling don't pay enough to support a family (mostly because they're not designed to). Please don't construe my comment as endorsing some sort of populist revolution. I just find it very hard to believe hordes of migrant workers (many of which are here illegally, don't speak much English, perhaps have little schooling, etc.) will just waltz on into cities and out of thin air procure jobs that pay enough to cover rent, food, and clothing—especially when they only reason they can support a family on an apple picker's salary of a couple hundred bucks a day is because they live in the cheapest part of the state. I mean, if it was that easy why wouldn't they do it already? Cities offer vastly more resources for poor folk than central Washington orchards do, so all they gain from picking apples is familiarity and perhaps the support network of working with similar people.

fludlight 9y ago
The reason I mentioned the long run and a populist revolutionist because it takes many years for the labor force to adjust. An entire generation that can't find productive jobs for a decade is a very dangerous thing. This led to considerable political turmoil in the US in the 1930s. Unfortunately, I see something similar on the horizon in the service sector.