This here is not my point of view: Viva Robotics!!! Capitalism, no longer Imperialism is transforming itself, the means of production has made a leap, to each according to their needs, becomes our demand. Capitalism will absolve itself. "At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or - (this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms) with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated up until then. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution." Marx The conclusion that Marx has always made all along: "Then begins an era of social revolution." The working class is the vanguard. f580 http://www.positivefuturist.com/archive/352.html Jobs lost to robots could force major changes in our capitalist system By Dick Pelletier The greatest challenge the U.S. faces today is to lower unemployment rates. To keep pace with population growth, the economy needs to create 2 million new jobs each year. However, most economists predict that creating vast numbers of human jobs will become more and more difficult as ATMs, on-line banking, self-checkout stations, and other areas where technologies are replacing humans, continues to grow. A recent World Future Society report states that technology is a job killer. The whole idea of automation is to do things cheaper, easier, faster, or better than humans can. Automated systems, by their very nature are designed to replace human labor. In addition to automated systems stealing jobs, many financially-stressed companies have moved their facilities offshore; or are outsourcing jobs electronically to India, China, and Indonesia; also, poorly-regulated immigration laws allow illegal workers to grab U.S. jobs. Although today's unemployment hovers around 10%, this is mild compared with what we can expect in the future. It is estimated that 50 million jobs will be lost to automated systems by 2030; and by 2040, robots that can accurately mimic human intelligence will capture more than half of all human jobs. When this writer grew up during the Great Depression, unemployment reached 25%, which caused soup lines, riots, and turmoil throughout the country. In our robotic future, 50% of workers will become jobless and this could be disastrous. Science writer Marshall Brain in his "Robotic Freedom" blog examines the problem and offers suggestions that would provide humanity with all the benefits expected from tomorrow's robot wonders, while protecting us from the financial devastations of unemployment. This bold visionary believes the solution to our impending unemployment disaster is to create a $25,000 annual stipend for every U.S. adult. These payments would be paid for through various possibilities, such as allowing ads on currency and public properties, rebates on natural resources, lotteries, consumption tax, and income taxes on the rich; plus taxes on robots, automated systems, and emails. The government collects over $2 trillion in taxes annually, which works out to about $20,000 per U.S. household. It's easy to imagine a stipend program that would pay every adult $25,000. The stipend would not need to be created immediately. It could be phased in incrementally over the next couple of decades. By 2030 though, Americans could be enjoying a financially-secure, middle class or better lifestyle loaded with leisure time. Equitable wealth distribution like this allows consumers to spend without fear of losing their jobs and becoming destitute. This increased spending would give the economy its biggest boom ever. How would people spend their extra time in a futuristic world where work is eliminated from everyday life? Some might enroll in education programs; others could awaken their creative juices and become entrepreneurs; still others may enjoy traveling and make that dream visit to distant points on Earth, or become space pioneers and join colonies on Moon, Mars, or artificial habitats hovering above the planet. Arrival of human-level robots marks a transformative time in history. These silicon wonders promise a utopian wonderworld, but we must revise our capitalist system to turn this vision into reality. _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list Marxist-Leninist-List@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
