Once got in a conversation about nuclear power that hit the point of “Yes nuclear is safer and more efficient but what about the jobs of the coal employees? Do you want them all to starve?”
Took a while to digest because there’s a lot of normalization surrounding it, but after a while I realized what I had been told was:
“We have to intentionally gimp our efficiency in both energy production and pollution generation in order to preserve a harder, more costly industry, because otherwise people wouldn’t have a task that they need to do in order to feed themselves.”
Kinda disillusioned me with the underpinnings of capitalism, just how backwards it was to have to think this way. We can’t justify letting people live unless they’re necessary to society in some way - which might’ve made solid sense in older, very very different times in human history, but now means that so much of our culture is tied up in finding more excuses to make people do work that isn’t really necessary at all.
New innovations happen, and tasks are made easier, and that doesn’t actually save anyone any work, because everyone still has to put in 40 hours a week. New tech lets you do it in 10 hours? Whoops, actually that means that you’re out of a job, replaced with an intern or something. Making “life” easier makes individual lives harder, what the fuck? That isn’t how things should be at all!
Not exactly an easy situation to crack, but to circle back to the point of the thread - I hate how normal it is to argue on the basis that we need to create jobs, everywhere, all the time. I wish we’d have a situation where people can brag for political clout about destroying jobs instead, about reducing the amount of work people need to do to live and live comfortably, instead of trying to enforce this system where efficiency means making people obsolete means making people starve.
Woa there comrade. Trying to build a world where extracting value from labor isn’t they ultimate goal? You’ll never be a disillusional billionaire wannabe grinding your youth and passion into the labor that powers the elite classes whims with that attitude. Don’t you want to see Jeff Bezos sorta go to space? That can’t happen with spreading the wealth. Stay hungry my friend.
That’s fun to say but not really a reflection of reality, factories full of machine operators don’t exist like they used to - my parents talk about what would be like when the local factory day ended and everyone would flood the streets, fill the bars and everyone would be in their overalls… They actually still make the same product in a slightly different location, only about fifty people work there but they produce far more units.
It’s the same in every industry, and all the extra profits are going into the pockets of the owners who live increasingly luxurious lifestyles. If the huge efficiency gains we’ve seen in recent decades were used to benefit society then we’d be living far better lives, but they’re being used to buy absurdly over priced art to hang in super yachts and show off to their rich buddies.
Once got in a conversation about nuclear power that hit the point of “Yes nuclear is safer and more efficient but what about the jobs of the coal employees? Do you want them all to starve?”
Took a while to digest because there’s a lot of normalization surrounding it, but after a while I realized what I had been told was:
“We have to intentionally gimp our efficiency in both energy production and pollution generation in order to preserve a harder, more costly industry, because otherwise people wouldn’t have a task that they need to do in order to feed themselves.”
Kinda disillusioned me with the underpinnings of capitalism, just how backwards it was to have to think this way. We can’t justify letting people live unless they’re necessary to society in some way - which might’ve made solid sense in older, very very different times in human history, but now means that so much of our culture is tied up in finding more excuses to make people do work that isn’t really necessary at all.
New innovations happen, and tasks are made easier, and that doesn’t actually save anyone any work, because everyone still has to put in 40 hours a week. New tech lets you do it in 10 hours? Whoops, actually that means that you’re out of a job, replaced with an intern or something. Making “life” easier makes individual lives harder, what the fuck? That isn’t how things should be at all!
Not exactly an easy situation to crack, but to circle back to the point of the thread - I hate how normal it is to argue on the basis that we need to create jobs, everywhere, all the time. I wish we’d have a situation where people can brag for political clout about destroying jobs instead, about reducing the amount of work people need to do to live and live comfortably, instead of trying to enforce this system where efficiency means making people obsolete means making people starve.
Woa there comrade. Trying to build a world where extracting value from labor isn’t they ultimate goal? You’ll never be a disillusional billionaire wannabe grinding your youth and passion into the labor that powers the elite classes whims with that attitude. Don’t you want to see Jeff Bezos sorta go to space? That can’t happen with spreading the wealth. Stay hungry my friend.
The robots are creating art and music while the humans are working harder than ever.
That’s fun to say but not really a reflection of reality, factories full of machine operators don’t exist like they used to - my parents talk about what would be like when the local factory day ended and everyone would flood the streets, fill the bars and everyone would be in their overalls… They actually still make the same product in a slightly different location, only about fifty people work there but they produce far more units.
It’s the same in every industry, and all the extra profits are going into the pockets of the owners who live increasingly luxurious lifestyles. If the huge efficiency gains we’ve seen in recent decades were used to benefit society then we’d be living far better lives, but they’re being used to buy absurdly over priced art to hang in super yachts and show off to their rich buddies.
Hi, where can I sign up for your blog and donate to your campaign?