Re: Supermarket Robots

But...but...but...there are many people who have no ambition or desire to conquer the capitalist world. They are perfectly content to work menial jobs that require no particular skill or schooling. What is deplorable to one person may be heaven to another. These people are actually more vital to the scheme of things than rocket scientists too. I can see those robots taking over certain jobs at airports, and maybe some assembly line work (that's already a done deal), but putting shampoo on the shelf or scrubbing a toilet in a restaurant... my crystal ball is just not seeing it.

Re: Supermarket Robots

Fair enough but there are menial jobs and there are menial jobs. Jobs that inflict sheer tedium on a person should be ditched I think if a cheap robot can fit the bill; as you mentioned robots are already used in lots of line work. I just think that a human being shouldn't have to spend long hours in such work however brain dead or lacking in ambition they are .

Some people are desperate for whatever work they can get or are forced in to doing jobs for one reason on another but that doesn't mean they should do the work anyway if a robot can so easily do it instead. I think employers are actually doing the employees a favour by using robots for repetitive boring work as it will undoubtedly speed up the process of creating a working environment that is both stimulating and satisfying. It might ,or invariably, mean more people are out of work initially but should still cause other opportunities to arise at some point or other. A human being doesn't deserve, or belong, on some mindless production line these days unless they are getting quite a bit of satisfaction or reward from it.

You have the other side of the coin though in that robots have already caused massive job losses owing to their accuracy and untiring work practices. Huge factories where there are hardly any people at all. This really is the crux of the matter. Where factories are concerned maybe there will come a time when people will hardly feature in them be it for menial jobs or otherwise. What then will we all do for employment if employment is indeed the over-riding need of most people by then? Sounds to me that whatever the jobs are they might be an improvement with regard to job satisfaction - then again maybe not.

I equate boring, tedious jobs with exploitation so I'm pretty much dead against them.

Re: Supermarket Robots

When I was first studying Economics in the early 1960s we foresaw that 50 years hence we would all be working an average 3 day, 20 hour week. With the only problem being what people would do with all the extra leisure time.

Now it is obvious we forgot to factor in pure blatant greed and lack of fairness and compassion in society.

We have reached, or are rapidly approaching the time we foresaw but the reality will be that the distribution of the available work will not be as we saw it but how long will it take the greedy to realise without a reasonable level of income across the population businesses will founder through lack of custom.

Communism failed and through the ages people have said the only system that has not failed is capitalism, I contend capitalism is in slow and ultimately terminal decline; it is being killed by pure unfettered greed aided and abetted by a Government reliant on those very Capitalists for the funds for their existence.

Re: Supermarket Robots

Yes indeed. Can make you depressed if you think too long and hard on how we as a society are conducting ourselves. There doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel either. Capitalism might get the job done but at quite a cost; and the more people have the more they seem to want.