Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Researchers figured out when companies think about replacing workers with robots

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Researchers figured out when companies think about replacing workers with robots

Click here to access article by Lewis Krauskopf of Reuters via Business Insider.

Companies tend to start thinking about replacing workers when the costs of owning and operating a system come at a 15 percent discount to employing a human counterpart.

This, of course, is great news for the "owners" of the robots. What would otherwise be a blessing for humankind has, in fact, become a curse under the system of capitalism which benefits only a few people called owners, capitalists, or investors. These robots will be bring even more wealth and power to this tiny segment of humanity, and the chasm between them and us will grow even wider than it is now.

If, instead, all technology and its applications were correctly viewed as a heritage handed down over the generations of workers who steadily improved them, then we would see robots publicly owned as well as the wealth that is produced. Workers would be liberated from mind-numbing, monotonous tasks to enjoy an abundance of leisure time to pursue a variety of meaningful activities that would enrich the lives of everyone, and they would enjoy these pursuits without fearing poverty.