4 ms·

Sure. But why should the wages of these tasks grow, when they are not providing more or differentiated value as opposed to say 40 years ago?

jstarfish 8y ago
To keep the knives of the poor away from your throat.
- zxcvvcxz 8y ago
  Real mature and practical there buddy. What's more likely is the continued political push towards socialism that we're seeing in North America. Whether or not it will alleviate the situation as I see it, I can't say.
  - jnbiche 8y ago
    > Real mature and practical there buddy. You think that's a joke? Or trolling? History says no, time and time again.
  - oblio 8y ago
    What push for socialism?!? You're the only developed country without universal healthcare (!). And don't drag Canada in with your crazy politics (I'm not even Canadian :) ).
prolikewh0a 8y ago
Because eventually you'll run out of consumers as people pay nearly their full paycheck for absolutely necessities like shelter.
- zxcvvcxz 8y ago
  I've heard of this theory before but never seen an example of it happening. Has this ever happened in any country's history? What was the corrective result thereafter?
  - AstralStorm 8y ago
    It never happened so far. What did happen is consumer goods crises where people couldn't afford necessities like food. War and revolutions followed. High rent prices with no recourse can cause the same result. Examples: Germany after WW1, Russian bolshevik revolution. Probably a few more.
aerotwelve 8y ago
Well, at an absolute bare minimum, wages for these jobs should grow to compensate for changes in the cost of living, otherwise they are effectively getting pay cuts every year. Edit: more simply, anyone working full time in a first world country should not be living in poverty. Once you lose this, you begin falling down the path towards losing "first world country" status.
- TomMarius 8y ago
  > otherwise they are effectively getting pay cuts every year That's the point. With automation, there are a) more unskilled workers available for hire, and their work is less and less valuable because b) it's going to be automated soon as well and c) because of governmental regulations that make it increasingly hard to employ people in general and make automation even more attractive. > Edit: more simply, anyone working full time in a first world country should not be living in poverty. They are free to learn new skills. If they can't because of mental of physical problems, there are options available today.

jstarfish 8y ago

To keep the knives of the poor away from your throat.

zxcvvcxz 8y ago
Real mature and practical there buddy. What's more likely is the continued political push towards socialism that we're seeing in North America. Whether or not it will alleviate the situation as I see it, I can't say.
- jnbiche 8y ago
  > Real mature and practical there buddy. You think that's a joke? Or trolling? History says no, time and time again.
- oblio 8y ago
  What push for socialism?!? You're the only developed country without universal healthcare (!). And don't drag Canada in with your crazy politics (I'm not even Canadian :) ).

prolikewh0a 8y ago

Because eventually you'll run out of consumers as people pay nearly their full paycheck for absolutely necessities like shelter.

zxcvvcxz 8y ago
I've heard of this theory before but never seen an example of it happening. Has this ever happened in any country's history? What was the corrective result thereafter?
- AstralStorm 8y ago
  It never happened so far. What did happen is consumer goods crises where people couldn't afford necessities like food. War and revolutions followed. High rent prices with no recourse can cause the same result. Examples: Germany after WW1, Russian bolshevik revolution. Probably a few more.

aerotwelve 8y ago

Well, at an absolute bare minimum, wages for these jobs should grow to compensate for changes in the cost of living, otherwise they are effectively getting pay cuts every year. Edit: more simply, anyone working full time in a first world country should not be living in poverty. Once you lose this, you begin falling down the path towards losing "first world country" status.

TomMarius 8y ago
> otherwise they are effectively getting pay cuts every year That's the point. With automation, there are a) more unskilled workers available for hire, and their work is less and less valuable because b) it's going to be automated soon as well and c) because of governmental regulations that make it increasingly hard to employ people in general and make automation even more attractive. > Edit: more simply, anyone working full time in a first world country should not be living in poverty. They are free to learn new skills. If they can't because of mental of physical problems, there are options available today.