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Is automation to blame for lost agricultural jobs? Lost textile mill jobs? Yes, it is. Do we miss those jobs? No, we don't, because we're so much wealthier whe

Is automation to blame for lost agricultural jobs? Lost textile mill jobs? Yes, it is. Do we miss those jobs? No, we don't, because we're so much wealthier when we can replace human labor with machine labor. That frees up humans to do higher-order tasks, improving our standard of living. Yes, there are winners and losers with any change, but long-term we are far better off than we could have imagined at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.

sp527 8y ago
> Yes, there are winners and losers with any change, but long-term we are far better off than we could have imagined at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. This is a deeply ignorant statement that renders invisible over 2 billion completely disenfranchised people in the third world. Just because you don't experience the consequences - while you gorge on the bounty of human progress somewhere amongst the top decile of our species - doesn't mean they aren't there.
- clarkmoody 8y ago
  I recommend that you go check out some of the data here: https://humanprogress.org/dws https://humanprogress.org/dws In the past 150 years, the human race has made extraordinary progress, lifting billions out of poverty. There are still many globally who are left out, and I am aware of that. But you can't argue against the widespread gains to humanity through improved technology.
Aloha 8y ago
I'd argue quite strongly that the communities who lost those jobs, do miss them dearly. They have not been replaced, and while you're correct we've lifted billions out of poverty, we've thrown hundreds of millions back into it, with no easy recourse out. Western nations, in general do a piss poor job with people in poverty, as we think ourselves beyond the problems of the third world, at least in the united states, its clearly not true - and dont have the right systems in place to allow folks to either fully participate in the low end of the market, or give them meaningful government assistance. Business right now is frightfully capital intensive - and has a high barrier to entry (paperwork mostly), and in many places there are no jobs available - what is someone to do?

sp527 8y ago

> Yes, there are winners and losers with any change, but long-term we are far better off than we could have imagined at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. This is a deeply ignorant statement that renders invisible over 2 billion completely disenfranchised people in the third world. Just because you don't experience the consequences - while you gorge on the bounty of human progress somewhere amongst the top decile of our species - doesn't mean they aren't there.

clarkmoody 8y ago
I recommend that you go check out some of the data here: https://humanprogress.org/dws https://humanprogress.org/dws In the past 150 years, the human race has made extraordinary progress, lifting billions out of poverty. There are still many globally who are left out, and I am aware of that. But you can't argue against the widespread gains to humanity through improved technology.

Aloha 8y ago

I'd argue quite strongly that the communities who lost those jobs, do miss them dearly. They have not been replaced, and while you're correct we've lifted billions out of poverty, we've thrown hundreds of millions back into it, with no easy recourse out. Western nations, in general do a piss poor job with people in poverty, as we think ourselves beyond the problems of the third world, at least in the united states, its clearly not true - and dont have the right systems in place to allow folks to either fully participate in the low end of the market, or give them meaningful government assistance. Business right now is frightfully capital intensive - and has a high barrier to entry (paperwork mostly), and in many places there are no jobs available - what is someone to do?