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"DEMOCIDE"
DEMOCIDE = GOVERNMENTAL KILLING BASED ON SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
There are 94.7 million Americans who are considered not in the labor force, not even seeking a job, a number which jumped again another 664,000 in 2016, CNBC reports.
Out of 209 million working-age Americans, that’s a staggering 45 percent of the workforce, which may explain why Democratic tone-deafness to their plight pushed ballots for Trump in key rust belt states.
While the GOP distracts us with border walls, and pits poor and threatened middle class whites against equally struggling minorities and immigrants, two forces are at work, which conservatives assiduously avoid discussing, that have huge ramifications to every American and most of the economies of the planet.
Automation and global warming.
Automation affords us all kinds of wonders. Instant global communications, cool games, amazing images, better cars, new medicines. Used properly, it can bring humanity greater prosperity, health, and well being. That is, if, of course, you believe that all human beings have equal worth, and, freed of work by the machines, can be equally supported, along with the rich and powerful, by the technology that takes them out of the working world.
Republicans, of the Social Darwinist/Randian selfish stripe, though, hold a darker world view of that automation, rooted in their selfish dogma. They aren’t just rethinking your right to healthcare. They’re mulling over how many of us are really all that necessary in this brave new world.
The assembly line, the warehouse of the 21st century, doesn’t use sweatshop labor. Robots in a warehouse don’t eat, sleep, drink, need breaks, have family problems, or health issues.
If you are a college-educated professional smugly thinking that you aren’t vulnerable like your blue collar brethren, think again.
IBM’s Artificial Intelligence program, Watson is beginning to outthink physicians in diagnostics, and radiology and pathology to the point that many types of medical jobs in those fields will go away soon. Robotic surgery reduces error and improves patient outcomes. One estimate is that 80 percent of doctors will be unnecessary by the mid-century.
Uber is already replacing humans with pilotless cars. Mercedes, amongst others, is well on the way to delivering pilotless trucks to the world’s highways. So shed another estimated 4.8 million professional drivers from the workforce. Recalling antiques like land-line telephones, if people just start using cars by calling them up on their apps and just paying by the ride, rather than owning one, kiss 1.4 million auto dealership jobs goodbye, and perhaps 600,000 independent mechanics who won’t be working on fleet pilotless cars. In all, more than a third of the population could find itself jobless as a result of automation in this century.
Out of 209 million working-age Americans, that’s a staggering 45 percent of the workforce, which may explain why Democratic tone-deafness to their plight pushed ballots for Trump in key rust belt states.
While the GOP distracts us with border walls, and pits poor and threatened middle class whites against equally struggling minorities and immigrants, two forces are at work, which conservatives assiduously avoid discussing, that have huge ramifications to every American and most of the economies of the planet.
Automation and global warming.
Automation affords us all kinds of wonders. Instant global communications, cool games, amazing images, better cars, new medicines. Used properly, it can bring humanity greater prosperity, health, and well being. That is, if, of course, you believe that all human beings have equal worth, and, freed of work by the machines, can be equally supported, along with the rich and powerful, by the technology that takes them out of the working world.
Republicans, of the Social Darwinist/Randian selfish stripe, though, hold a darker world view of that automation, rooted in their selfish dogma. They aren’t just rethinking your right to healthcare. They’re mulling over how many of us are really all that necessary in this brave new world.
The assembly line, the warehouse of the 21st century, doesn’t use sweatshop labor. Robots in a warehouse don’t eat, sleep, drink, need breaks, have family problems, or health issues.
If you are a college-educated professional smugly thinking that you aren’t vulnerable like your blue collar brethren, think again.
IBM’s Artificial Intelligence program, Watson is beginning to outthink physicians in diagnostics, and radiology and pathology to the point that many types of medical jobs in those fields will go away soon. Robotic surgery reduces error and improves patient outcomes. One estimate is that 80 percent of doctors will be unnecessary by the mid-century.
Uber is already replacing humans with pilotless cars. Mercedes, amongst others, is well on the way to delivering pilotless trucks to the world’s highways. So shed another estimated 4.8 million professional drivers from the workforce. Recalling antiques like land-line telephones, if people just start using cars by calling them up on their apps and just paying by the ride, rather than owning one, kiss 1.4 million auto dealership jobs goodbye, and perhaps 600,000 independent mechanics who won’t be working on fleet pilotless cars. In all, more than a third of the population could find itself jobless as a result of automation in this century.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-and-republicans-expect-you-to-die-joe-public_us_58bd8453e4b0fa65b844b612?9eqtuwu3dboxzb0529&
Think just how quickly the Uber model has impacted society. Once the kinks get worked out, think how quickly it can get magnified throughout the economy -- and even accelerated via the impact of Artificial Intelligence.
I have written before about the inevitable impact of automation ... almost more rapidly than we can almost imagine ... on our workforce.
What happens to popular culture and civil society ... when it is based on a CONSUMER ECONOMY ... and there are simply not enough jobs to go around, nor money to support the economy?
Collapse? Anarchy?
Do you ever hear Republicans talking about the negative potentials of automation? What IS their practical solution to all of those middle-America Trumpians who are out of work, most of whom cannot compete or upgrade their way into an automated society?
Is that because they know, in their hearts, that they don't expect US, the common folks, to even BE here?
Their lack of insurance coverage for all starts to make more sense, eh? Their RANDIAN/Darwinist instincts give them away, no matter what pretty language and idealogy they cover it up with. Automation + Global Climate Collapse? It just hastens every Randians fervid wet-dream.
I am not given to conspiracies as a general rule. There are many ways this can play out. But there IS a coming collision between AUTOMATION, and the basic fundamental exchange of labor for money that has sustained our common society across continents for thousands of years.
If we don't find a way for society to collectively SHARE wealth ... and access (in the good way) EDUCATION and HEALTH CARE (the two other things we all need in order to survive and thrive) ... then we are all in for a radical awakening that will not be pretty.
DEMOCIDE is one of these potential outcomes. And it isn't just a fantasy ...
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