or "The (Not So Promising) Future of Shitty Jobs: Meet your noodle-making robot..." as they titled
this post on the always delivering Dangerous Minds Blog.
It's about a cheap-ass Robot that can do a shitty job way better and for a lot less money than any human could. Check out the link above if you want to know details.
However, what I am aiming at is the finishing statement of the article:
"
The thought of a world population of over 7 billion people being increasingly put out of work by robots—the most menial jobs will be the ones to go first—is a rather bleak thing to contemplate isn’t it? Then again, maybe there’s an opportunity in all off this somehow? Who knows?"
Hell yes there is an opportunity in this. I don't think anyone is too passionate about working a straining, repetitive, monotonous, exhaustive job. I know that a lot of people still kind of like to do something like that because it gives them a feeling of being useful. Of being worth something or even
being someone. Now this mindset I never understood. Do we really have to do something to be someone? Do we need a job to give us self esteem?
I truely believe that everything in this world has its own value just by being there. A value that you cannot measure or compare. The mere existance of anyone or anything goes along with the right to be treated with respect. You don't throw your waste into the woods, a river or out your car window for that matter. You don't just cut down a tree without reviewing other options to achieve your goal. You don't (ab)use animals for meat, dairy, leather, wool or anything else including zoos, circuses or your own little amusement at home where living beings are put into tiny glass cubicles or little backyard ponds. And you don't exploit humans for cheap labour. Be it kids in sweatshops, below minimum wage jobs that continuously are getting pushed further east or shit jobs (that don't earn you a living or burn you out) right here in the so-called civilized western world.
Another thing I believe in is that humans are born to be free and pursue their desires. To live means to learn. Learning means improving. And if you do that having in mind what I wrote in the paragraph above it will lead to a better world for every form of life. Of course there are certain needs to be fulfilled that will cause more or less harm to others. That's just the way it is. What makes the difference is how you go about getting where you want to be. Don't just disregard anyone and everything else. Work on accomplishing something in the least harmful way. Be ready to compromise. And before you do so think about wether it really needs to be done.
What's the use of all these different tech gadgets for example that actually complete the same tasks but differ in quality? It's such a waste of resources because a lot of these things break way too soon and end up in a bin not getting recycled. Not to mention the energy, labour and annoyance that acompanies the slow death of said things. Just like in healthcare I only want the best so why not make it affordable for everybody? What's all the differentiation about but making profit? Just look at the current situation in europe. That's what this state of mind comes too. It's inevitable. We actually did come up with a pretty good set of morals and yet in many ways we don't act too different from when we first started walking on two feet. With all the physical violence among people and corporations exchanging the bat with money. How can anyone not see this? We only think about me, my family, my community, my country and so on. What we don't see is that all of these things are just constructs that have been thrown around and reshaped over time. They are more or less arbitrary and heavily influenced by the way we live which in turn is influenced by where we live. And all of these separations are just means to divide and conquer. Now I don't believe in Any of the many conspiracy theories out there but there definitely are people who benefit from our quarrels and do everything they can to keep things the way they are.
Unfortunately those with the most power (aka money) at their disposal are the ones who could easily change a lot of things for the better but don't want to because it would mean less profit for them. But, and now we're coming full circle back to where this rant started, here we have a situation at hand that we could use for the well being of more than just 1% of the population. Of course at first it looks like a bad idea to put a lot of people out of work by replacing them with robots but as I said before we don't need the work. Just a little bit of money. Some time ago I read that the money that in Germany is spent on welfare combined with the money it takes to provide the bureaucracy and everything that comes with the process of deciding wether someone 'deserves' to get welfare or not is enough money to provide every german citizen with 1000€ a month if we would drop that whole concept. I have no idea on how to check if that is true or not but I deem it possible that this statement is not too far off if it is. Just think of the shitloads of our money the banks lost and are being refunded for out of our pockets again. Ok. A lot of that loot probably never existed. But they gave out credits anyway that were spent by people like you and me before they realized: oh shit we're not gonna get that back. And where did that money go? It's got to be somewhere. Just think of the billions of Euros pumped into Greece and now Spain. I don't want to go into this whole topic here but it amazes me to see that there actually is all this money available while we're facing more and more cuts in the social and cultural departments just to satisfy the markets aka the playgrounds of those who are pretty likely in the possession of the money we lost.
I still say people before profits and maybe when more and more people get replaced by robots we will wake up and see that there is not enough work for everyone to be employed the way we are now but that there very well is enough money for everybody to get live a decent life. Maybe then we will not blame the
foreigners robots but redistribute the money that was wrongly amassed by a few ruthless individuals. And maybe then people will have the time for a little self-fulfillment. Be that as an artist, musician, dad, mom, scientist, carpenter, writer, nanny, designer or whatever people might enjoy doing when they don't have to do it 8 hours or more a day for 40 years. Maybe then every single person can live up to their respective potential and not just those who have the privilege to not be forced to support a familiy from an early age on or being restricted by their parents income.
This surely reads very idealistic and if you ask me how to accomplish all this I won't be able to come up with an answer because this is way too complex for a single human being to figure out. The answer is something that has to grow. And having robots take all the chores they can off our hands to me looks like a good step into the right direction. Perhaps then our capcities will be sufficient to work on a possible answer.
Together.
(Of course I know that whole financial crisis thing is a tad more complex than I presented it but I, like many others probably, am not versed enough to grasp the whole thing which might play a role in why they are still getting away with it besides everybody being busy trying to survive the realities we have to face.)
