Taking a break from calling out traitors and fascists let me return to another topic that should be of great concern to many people: automation.
The usual commentary made by MSM and corporate spokespersons is that robots and other forms of automation are not a threat to human employment. Only an idiot believes this. The same idiots who think immigration (legal or otherwise) "creates jobs" for citizens. Introducing a new worker where there wasn't one before, always depresses wages for existing workers and creates a weaker environment for worker solidarity.
As I've pointed out, robots will take over with the public being given the reason of safety (automated transport) and efficiency. But for corporations it comes down to cost of labour. A robot gets no benefits whatsoever. A robot is not a legal liability for discrimination, workman's comp or any other legal threat. A robot can work 24/7 unless it breaks down. As robotics gets better and the jobs they can do increase as their per unit costs drop, humans become unnecessary. Black Americans should know this very well as the automation of processing cotton soon made slavery unprofitable and black people became, generally speaking, a surplus population.
So today's news should be a wake up alarm for those who are most stubbornly comatose to
what's going on.
Apple supplier Foxconn has dramatically slashed its workforce by 60,000 employees at its Kunshan factory in China, reports South China Morning Post. In their place, Foxconn has installed dozens of robots in order to automate aspects of the manufacturing process that previously required skilled manual labor. Incredibly, the number of workers slashed in one fell swoop took the total number of workers still employed at the factory down from 110,000 to just 50,000.
China has a huge problem looming. It has built itself on being the manufacturer to the world. Automation will make unemployment skyrocket. Good luck with that.
Meanwhile ArsTechnica reports on the CEO telling the public what "those who can see"
have known all along
In an appearance on Fox Business' Mornings with Maria, Ed Rensi claimed that a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour would result in "job loss like you can't believe" before ceding ground to our new robotic overlords. "I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday, and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry—it’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient making $15 an hour bagging French fries."
These automation services are already in use in China and Japan. Wendy's has already announced it's intent to use this in their stores. This is going to happen. It's only a matter of when and how fast. These "burger flipping" jobs were
never meant to be full time, family supporting jobs for anything other than a simply mom and pop family run diner. What good is a $15/hour wage when you
have no job? Look I'm all for livable wages. I'm all for fair and equitable employment. But I'm not stupid. Are you?
