Zog
Formerly Northstar. The Block, The Shot, The Stop
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2008
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yes and truck drivers get replaced by robots and computers control all the road systems.
Im not sure what impact this has on minimum wage which in either scenario should be 90% of the poverty level for a family of four
My point is simply that are those people working the minimum wage jobs better off with machines replacing them? Where do they go to get better work?
That's not necessarily a bad thing. People fear innovation and machines taking their jobs, but they actually benefit the economy.
I remember hearing an economist speak one time about the telephone operator. At one point, every call you made had to be physically connected by a human operator. They thought the machines coming in would mean fewer jobs and terrible for the economy. Well the machines came in and took over and a lot of operators lost their jobs, but at the same time more jobs were created and the phone industry grew. Technology is not a bad thing for jobs. Looking back, it would have been foolish to try to save the phone operator's job, or the wooden wheel maker when rubber tires came around, or Paul Bunyan and Babe when that guy with a chainsaw and train came to town.
I see the same thing here. Yeah, an $8/hr employee is no longer needed, but now you have manufacturing, design, engineering, software programming, and maintenance of these machines. Someone has to manage the user experience too. You probably create more and better jobs. That guy who was fucking up your order now has to gain new employment skills.
This is a good point (that better jobs are created to make the machines), I'm just not sold that the minimum wage worker will develop those skills.
It would be good if we had more blue collar workers looking to work in the manufacturing industry. I currently work as an engineer for a manufacturer of steel products and we have a hard time finding people who actually want to do the work. No experience is required and starting wages are about $18/hr. It is relatively physically demanding labor, the environment is very warm, etc. It's not a fun job, but if someone is having trouble getting by on $8/hr for entering orders at McDonald's, it would be a large step up in pay.
Unless the minimum wage workers are willing to do this type of "dirty" work, I'm not seeing them developing the skills for similar paying jobs that require the educational background (i.e. engineering, business, accounting) to obtain them.