Ask HN: Will automation generate social massive protests?

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sun, Jan 08, 2017, 3:48 PM UTC

mvitorino wrote: post #38

PeterisP wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is such a thing as production decoupled from labor. We still need a way to allocate the limited resources, but the primary way to do can't be labor/salaries anymore - because in the near future, unlike all the past millenia, labor of most people is simply not needed for optimum production.

I can't think of a single industry that has been able to completely decouple production from labor. Even something as simple as subway ticketing machines or vending machines require technicians to deploy and maintain them. Sure, most people that sold tickets lost that job, but economies have always found a new occupation for most. Seems to me most have exaggerated expectations of the impact of automation.

Post by phaemon » Sun, Jan 08, 2017, 3:53 PM UTC

mvitorino wrote: post #21

majewsky wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the old fallacy that absence of capitalism equals communism. Yet humankind existed for millenia before either system was introduced.

That is not what I said. I merely mentioned that one of the possible alternatives was Communism. I do not know any alternatives that have worked and instead of pointing out a non existing fallacy, I would expect someone to actually point to viable alternative to Capitalism instead of simply being critics of it. Also Capitalism is as old as the notion of personal property which predates any notion of State.

Post by evgen » Sun, Jan 08, 2017, 3:55 PM UTC

jayjay71 wrote: post #14

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #6

Stephen Hawking made a great point last year when he wrote that automation/robots aren't the problem, capitalism is the problem. Most of the world takes for granted a system that allocates resources and the results of production in a way that encourages the highest profits with the least costs. Since humans are the highest cost, they are the biggest target for automation. We have a golden opportunity to create a bett…

How do you think the new governments will unfold? Will there be gradual changes in multiple countries around the world, or will there be violent uprisings? Historically speaking, at least in the United States, the citizens are far less powerful than the state simply due to the imbalance in weapons. The point of the 2nd amendment was so the people would be more powerful than the government, but due to the ban on machi…

Post by JoeAltmaier » Sun, Jan 08, 2017, 3:59 PM UTC

evgen wrote: post #45

jayjay71 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you think the new governments will unfold? Will there be gradual changes in multiple countries around the world, or will there be violent uprisings? Historically speaking, at least in the United States, the citizens are far less powerful than the state simply due to the imbalance in weapons. The point of the 2nd amendment was so the people would be more powerful than the government, but due to the ban on machi…

> The point of the 2nd amendment was so the people would be more powerful than the government Sorry to drag this off-tangent, but that statement is not even close to the reality of why the 2nd amendment was proposed or ratified and you should really stop saying it. It makes a nice post-hoc fairy tale for NRA types, but you desperately need to read some history of the colonial period...

Post by yummyfajitas » Sun, Jan 08, 2017, 4:01 PM UTC

chinathrow wrote: post #42

yummyfajitas wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are my feelings relevant? If you must know the answer, I feel like a person who's read a dictionary and knows that terrorists are people who use violence and intimidation to achieve their political goals.

I assume you're from the U.S. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/2656f "(2) the term “terrorism” means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents;" Rough words for a few Uber drives in France.