Quote:
Originally Posted by ZNPaaneah
Why would anyone who has a choice want to be involved in "cheap labor". I get it as an opportunity for poor and undeveloped nations to climb their way out of poverty, but if we are replacing menial labor with skilled labor then that is not only a good thing but the way of progress.
The Washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove have all made the job of "homemaking" much simpler, allowing women to work in the workforce. Yes, these appliances did "take away jobs from women" but open your eyes, that opened the door for better jobs.
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Before the washing machine etc, women did not
have to work in the workforce. A one person income was sufficient. I think some women would prefer to stay at home and raise children then be forced to work for a living, in any job.
Yes the jobs that machines replace can open the door for better jobs however with every machine comes a net loss in the number of jobs available. It is not a one machine to one person ratio. Machines can do it much faster and better.
Also, some might argue that replacing a physical job with a sitting behind a desk job is not a better job (if you are a physically active person, that is, and overall computer work is not good for health).
That is why companies now can run with only 10 staff whereas 20 years ago they needed 100 staff. Better jobs can result but also fewer jobs. A job which used to take 10 people to do, can be replaced by 1 machine and 1 machine supervisor/operator. So there is a net loss in the number of jobs available. At the same time, with population growth, there is more people who need jobs. So less jobs available and more people who need them means more unemployment.
It is not just machines part of this problem but also software. Better software can replace jobs that people had to do by hand. The job of the person who would transcribe interviews and notes etc has been replaced by automatic speech to text software and things like this.
Extrapolate to the future when machines will do everything and everyone will need to depend upon a minimum wage. There will be lots of people with not much to do. So governments will need to pay everyone a base salary whether they work or not, so that people can survive. They tried this idea already in some country in Europe I think.