4 ms·

Bill de Blasio: Why American Workers Need to Be Protected from Automation

4 points by dmitrygr 7y ago

eesmith 7y ago
> my proposal would institute a “robot tax” on large companies that eliminate jobs through increased automation What is a "robot"? When a nearby canal was being built, they used steam power rather than people power. The local workers were angry because they wanted the work. The Luddites in the 180ss were rightly concerned about how automation was replacing jobs which had taken years of training, with no consideration for those who were now unemployed. Their movement has since been used - incorrectly, IMO - to mean those opposed to new technology simply because it's new technology. Phil Ochs' "Automation Song" (1964): Oh I laid down your railroads, every mile of track With the muscles on my arm and the sweat upon my back And now the trains are rolling, they roll to every shore You tell me that my job is through, there ain't no work no more Though I laid down your highways all across the land With the ringing of the steel and the power of my hands And now the roads are there like ribbons in the sky You tell me that my job is through but still I wonder why For the wages were low and the hours were long And the labor was all I could bear Now you've got new machines for to take my place And you tell me it's not mine to share Though I laid down your factories and laid down your fields With my feet on the ground and my back to your wheels And now the smoke is rising, the steel is all a-glow I'm walking down a jobless road and where am I to go Automation is everywhere. Word processors and computers have replaced many secretarial jobs. (Have you worked for a company with a secretary pool? They used to be quite common.) Are those not robots displacing workers? Who pays? I'm for UBI in part because it's much easier to justify universal support than to pick and decide each how each job is affected by automation.

4 ms·

Bill de Blasio: Why American Workers Need to Be Protected from Automation

4 points by dmitrygr 7y ago

eesmith 7y ago
> my proposal would institute a “robot tax” on large companies that eliminate jobs through increased automation What is a "robot"? When a nearby canal was being built, they used steam power rather than people power. The local workers were angry because they wanted the work. The Luddites in the 180ss were rightly concerned about how automation was replacing jobs which had taken years of training, with no consideration for those who were now unemployed. Their movement has since been used - incorrectly, IMO - to mean those opposed to new technology simply because it's new technology. Phil Ochs' "Automation Song" (1964): Oh I laid down your railroads, every mile of track With the muscles on my arm and the sweat upon my back And now the trains are rolling, they roll to every shore You tell me that my job is through, there ain't no work no more Though I laid down your highways all across the land With the ringing of the steel and the power of my hands And now the roads are there like ribbons in the sky You tell me that my job is through but still I wonder why For the wages were low and the hours were long And the labor was all I could bear Now you've got new machines for to take my place And you tell me it's not mine to share Though I laid down your factories and laid down your fields With my feet on the ground and my back to your wheels And now the smoke is rising, the steel is all a-glow I'm walking down a jobless road and where am I to go Automation is everywhere. Word processors and computers have replaced many secretarial jobs. (Have you worked for a company with a secretary pool? They used to be quite common.) Are those not robots displacing workers? Who pays? I'm for UBI in part because it's much easier to justify universal support than to pick and decide each how each job is affected by automation.