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There is a labor shortage. Shifting labor from essentially low productivity things like overseeing gas stations to other industries is better for the economy.
by thehappypm 5y ago
There is a labor shortage. Shifting labor from essentially low productivity things like overseeing gas stations to other industries is better for the economy.
- reaperducer 5y agoThere is a labor shortage. Shifting labor from essentially low productivity things like overseeing gas stations to other industries is better for the economy. Only if you believe that every person is equally able and qualified to perform every other job that exists in an economy. People aren't cogs, and they're not universally interchangeable, no matter what the economic textbooks would like people on the internet to believe.
- thehappypm 5y agoSure, but the labor demand is also large and spans a wide gamut of skills. Someone who used to be a gas station cashier can certainly find work elsewhere.
- ydlr 5y ago> People aren't cogs Exactly. They are extremely adaptive, capable of learning and doing many things. Sure, not everyone can do everything, but there are also no purpose-built humans capable of only one job.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago> People aren't cogs, and they're not universally interchangeable People aren't, but humanity is...meaning those drivers might not adapt to new work, but at least their children will. The Luddites had huge problems with obsolescence, but their kids got by OK. A social safety net could take the edge of the transition rather than just delaying the transition indefinitely.
- boredumb 5y ago“Anybody who can go down 3,000 feet in a mine can sure as hell learn to program as well... Anybody who can throw coal into a furnace can learn how to program, for God’s sake!”