From the invention of the first tool, man has been on a quest to find new processes and techniques to accomplish tasks quicker and more efficiently. As the industrial revolution came into full swing organizations were now able creates enormous amounts of products; however, industrialization required an enormous workforce. As unions developed and organized groups realized their collective worth, they could demand higher wages and greater benefits. Fast forward, in the 1970’s robots started to be introduced into the assembly line process. At the time, most assembly line workers did not realized they were witnessing a revolution, which would ultimately destroy the “company town” and transform society.
In the past three decades more robots and autonomous assembly lines have been built. The upfront costs are significant; however, a robot has never complained about its counterparts, had work slowdowns, or gone on strike. Autonomous assembly lines operate 24/7 and produce a high quality product at a high rate of speed. Robots do not require motivational speeches or need to attend leadership seminars. Their limitations on effectiveness are set by the quality of the programmer who created the instructions the machine follows.
For the business owner trying to maximize profits through reduced labor cost this is a utopia. But let’s take another perspective. As automation goes up, the numbers of people in the labor force declines. People in semi-skilled manufacturing jobs will be forced into the unemployment lines. In the future, people will have to carefully craft out their career choices. You cannot simply graduate high school and then go to work at the mill. High school graduates must find either blue collar skills that cannot be easily replicated by robots, or go to college and join professions requiring a level of creativity not yet matched by computers.
Ultimately, the only professions which may be safe from automation are those occupations which require intellectual creativity. Successful people will be the ones who are able to visualize something, and then turn those thoughts and ideas into items that have meaning and worth, such as those created by artists, writers, engineers and architects.
Currently, the President of the United States would like to turn America into a utopia for the working class. He argues on one had that workers should have good paying jobs in manufacturing, and on the other hand claims we cannot fall behind in the race for new technology. The new reality, in an automated world, is simply doing a factory job is now out of the economic equations. You must use your intellect to not only flourish, but simply survive. Many refuse to tap into their unique and innate ability to use their intelligence be creative. Most are not willing to burn a cerebral calorie in such an endeavor. The truth escapes many, that with increased automation, many people will never be employed to their full potential. There are only so many fast food jobs to go around. Even so, no-skilled jobs only pay at, or slightly above, the minimum wage. How will society deal with an ever increasing number of jobless or under compensated people? How will this strain impact the financial burden the United States finds itself under? The technology revolution challenges the working class to evolve and find new opportunities to satisfy their basic human needs. In three decades we have changed the basic structure of society which took Milena to develop.
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