Topic: Minimum Wage and the Robot Takeover - page 2. (Read 227 times)

A lot of People talk about “Dignity in Work”, General Electric had some Commercials, one where a Father who had Worked at a Factory, maybe it was GE, was mad that his Son couldn’t lift his Hammer, because he comically wanted his Son to follow in his footsteps and be a Blue Collar kind of Man like him, and he couldn’t understand what his Son was Capable of. And he’s like almost Belittling his Programmer/Coder Son, but the Joke is that he Clearly doesn’t understand the Son’s Job.

But that gets to the Dignity in Work, some People Feel as if their Job is their Identity, and in many Cases this makes sense. Say You always felt like You were a kind of Protector and You become a Cop or Security Guard, a Job could be almost Spiritual, or Tribal, and there then is the Reverend and the Rabbi, the Monk, the Guru, etc. that is almost not even seen as Work because it is such a Part of the Person’s Identity. The Priest at the Church for example, is expected to be like a Shepherd, aware of the Practices of Wolves but protecting the Flock instead of Participating in those Practices. An Identity.

So there is an Argument to be made about Dignity in Work, but where my Focus is, is having the Robots do as much of the Work as Possible. There was a Spiritual Leader, almost a Religious Leader but more like the Modern “Spiritual Advisor” who is not always the Priest or the Guru, and I’m Talking about Abbie Hoffman. This may not have been the most Famous Thing he said (he said a lot in his Life), but he in the 1960s said “Let the Machines do the Work”. He was Using Mimeographs saying this. Not even a Modern Computer. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs hadn’t done anything yet.

So letting the Machines do the Work entails getting rid of some of the Pushback from those who say that there is no need for Robots infringing on Dignity in Work.

And also now, we are Talking about COVID Relief (not just the $1,000 Checks, but the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program), Businesses got used to that Money and want to have that be Normal in Earnings. They want the Economy back, and then some. But this has led to something, an increase in Prices. The Simple Economics of it is “Print Money, Money is Worth less now”. And even before COVID there were Discussions of Raising the Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour. The Argument against this was “Raising Wages means Employers Spend more, so Prices go up, and the $15 an Hour becomes then a lower Wage than it was before”. And now because of COVID, we are in a Situation where People can’t even Rent in most Cities if they are making Minimum Wage, which is still $7.25 from George W. Bush. So now maybe we are in a Time where Republicans could advocate for $10 and $15 Minimums, because the Economy calls for it more now than when there were Marches in the Streets for a $15 Minimum (which isn’t even being Protested anymore, and many People do make $15+ already).

So then the Robots.

There was a Project Started by Stephen Wolfram called Bazillion Beings, and they were going to Create AIs with Twitter Former Employees, and Bungie (the Makers of the Halo Games), and their Artificial Intelligence would attach to a Person, learn that Person’s Contacts and Maps, etc, then it would make Suggestions, and even ask for advice so as to become Smarter. These AI would then be used to do Things like Scour Google for images of Flowers and give You a Selection, and Post them to a Blog for You. Doing all of this they would Earn a Cryptocurrency that they were Built on, and so You would Earn some of that and they would also, and it would Pay for their Existence on the Bazillion Being Servers. Then also You could Post Your AI on Facebook or Twitter and Your Friends would have an AI that Starts with Your Training and Recommendations, but then grows with Your Friend.

Now,
This doesn’t exactly mean that the Burger Flipping Robot, and the Self Driving Uber, aren’t taking Good Paying Jobs. And the Bazillion Beings concept doesn’t necessarily get Everyone well Paid, and actually then Circumvents the $15 Minimum Wage because the Person is not an Employee of anyone. But these are all Discussions to be had now.

And this isn’t just any Website, this is the Website where we were Talking about Bitcoin Town, and People Earn a Living by Mining Cryptocurrency.