Alexandria brings us the following lovely idea…
Technotopia And Politics-Jonah Goldberg At The National Review Online: ‘Minimum Wage And The
Rise Of The Machines’
Dec 9th, 2013 by Chris Navin
As Goldberg notes, Applebee’s has installed tablets at each table. Self-driving car technology is coming along nicely (2020?). Drones have lots of applications.
‘The robot future is coming no matter what, and it will require some truly creative responses by policymakers. I don’t know what those are, but I’m pretty sure antiquated ideas that were bad policy 100 years ago aren’t going to be of much use. Maybe the answers will come when artificial intelligence finally comes online and we can replace the policymakers with machines, too.’
Say your HAL9000 State U.S. Representative has indicated that it wouldn’t raise taxes this half-cycle to a probability of 99%, but then you get your tax bill and it nearly killed you! Time to decommission
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8N72t7aScY:
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My roomie and I had a recent discussion regarding minimum wage. Her thought was we needed ‘something’ imposed by gov’t – mine was the free market needed to decide.
Don’t like where you are employed because of what they pay? Go somewhere else. If Mc-Whatever can’t pay enough to keep people, they will eventually dry up.
Or is the T-1000 in our future?
Guffaw in AZ 
But, keep in mind that when the working poor can’t earn enough to survive, society pays.
For the several years of my childhood when my father worked at or near minimum wage, we were on food stamps and government assistance to pay our utility bills.
He was actively seeking better employment the whole time, but it took him several years to land a job that got us off government assistance.
Henry Ford paid his workers a livable wage because it ultimately makes economic sense. It seems the current crop of CEOs doesn’t understand this. (C.F. Walmart holding food drives for its employees).
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 8:15 amWe pay, anyway, whether through gov’t or private charity.
And given the ‘success’ of the ‘efficiency’ of gov’t, I’m betting the private. (The Post Office?)
Japan is already using robots and machines to eliminate ‘basic’ jobs; those ‘entry-level’ position formerly obtained by kids and students.
Henry Ford paid a liveable wage – not imposed by gov’t.
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 10, 2013, 8:23 amWhat happens when private charity can’t keep up with the demand? Foodbanks have been stressed since this recession hit, with donations down and demand up, all while corporations and banks got government assistance, and then went on to make record profits!
And, having used foodbanks as a child, I can tell you that it is not healthy. Everything is packaged, nothing fresh.
Children growing up on such a diet will not become healthy, productive members of society. Talk about a permanent underclass!
Yes, Henry Ford did the right thing without being “made” to do it, because he was SMART and realized that short term greed was not a long-term strategy. The current corporate thinking is all about short-term greed and NO long-term strategy.
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 8:37 amWhat DOES happen? What did people do before?
Family, extended family, churches, charities…
Sadly, we will never have a utopia, whether voluntary through charity or imposed by almighty inefficient gov’t.
‘Corporations and banks get gov’t assistance’ – who made those decisions?
Not every corporation is riding the short term greed train, but big gov’t is never efficient.
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 10, 2013, 8:54 amPeople often went hungry before our social safety net.
During our time of extreme poverty as a family, none of our extended family (which is quite extensive) could help to our level of need. A few gifts of cash, now and then, hand-me-down clothes, etc. But nothing that could keep food on our table.
Churches? Churches don’t have money. My dad was the pastor of a church that couldn’t pay him a living wage, that’s how we ended up poor and homeless. Your average, neighborhood church does not have the resources to support entire families in its community.
And, charities suffer along with the economy, when times are bad their donations dry up just as the need is most.
Big government might not be efficient, but it’s better than the alternative of having people go hungry.
When people have nothing left to lose, and their children are starving, that’s when society starts to seriously unravel, and I don’t think anybody wants that.
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 9:18 amWell, they go hungry now, too.
I don’t see overextended gov’t as the answer.
The point of the article had to do with increased technology decreasing available wages, and I was trying to make a statement in a humorous vein, coupling the increased technology with The Terminator – obviously I failed.
Mea culpa.
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 10, 2013, 9:25 amWe will always have the poor (Jesus said so, in Mark 14:7). But there are multiple reasons for poverty, and a one-size-fits-all approach (read government intervention/planning/interference) never, EVER works.
Posted by Rev. Paul | December 10, 2013, 9:06 amThank you, Rev. Paul for succinctly stating my argument!
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 10, 2013, 9:26 amGovernment is NOT the answer… Education (in real programs), tech school etc. is the way out. Those jobs Tomi and everyone else seem to be bitching about are ENTRY LEVEL… If you want a better job, get an education and move up… Both McDonalds and WalMart promote from within, and many of their managers are former floor workers. As for Tomi’s comment about an underclass, have you looked at the welfare roles? Now working on the third generation… Baby mills to get more $$, not a father in sight, and not a damn one paying child support… And 99 week unemployment when people admit they don’t even start looking until the 75th week??? WTF??? Wisconsin did pretty good with Workfare, and the lazy moved… 🙂
Posted by Old NFO | December 10, 2013, 10:00 amSince you reference my comments, I will make a reply.
While my family was on government assistance, and my dad was working for at or near minimum wage, he had both a BS in Accounting, and a Master’s in Divinity. So he had education for getting a “good” job. He actively sought better employment during ALL THAT TIME.
“Good” jobs can be hard to land, and it can take a long time.
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 10:09 amI’ll put in my own mea culpa and say that I got off my original point which was:
People who are working full time should not HAVE to depend on government, family, charity, etc. to be able to live.
People should be paid a living wage, period.
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 10:03 amOn this, I would agree. But let the free marketplace decide, not the government.
Posted by guffaw | December 10, 2013, 10:06 amExactly.
To paraphrase wordsmith Tam, ‘All government does is eat tax dollars and shit out red tape and misery.”
Posted by KM | December 10, 2013, 10:30 amI can always count on Tam and you, to speak with discretion.
Sorry, snark!
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 10, 2013, 10:37 amThere’s no one size fits all solution. But greater reliance on the government just makes things worse. And while I understand the problem of working poor – we have people in our cold weather shelter who are working but not making enough to get into housing – raising the minimum wage often results in job loss and higher costs. Which puts everybody back at square one.
Posted by ProudHillbilly | December 10, 2013, 2:04 pmThe theory that raising the minimum wage leads to job loss has been debunked:
Click to access IZA_HKZ_MinWageCoA_dp6132.pdf
Posted by Tomi | December 10, 2013, 2:46 pmMassive layoffs and eventual replacement by machines would be the obvious answer to the fools that think a McD burger flipper should make $15 an hour. McD already has machines to prepare your soda for you, I wouldn’t think it would be too hard to design one to make your fries.
Posted by Wilson | December 16, 2013, 6:28 amThe card swipe automat and we’re golden. Well, the arches are…
Posted by guffaw1952 | December 16, 2013, 8:19 am