seems easy to deal with, but there is no political capital to do so. invest in public infrastructure (roads, buildings, schools, health) and there will be lots of jobs. no one is automating construction away any time too soon.
A disaster is looming for American men
21–30 of 93 posts
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#22Is this only a problem for men? And if so why? I can't help but think that an article this short can't be anything more than fluff.
Its probably more of a problem for men because the kinds of jobs advancing technology is most likely to eliminate [0] in the near future tend to be male-dominated, especially the jobs that are better quality in the first place. So, men (of particular demographics and skill/education profiles) are going to be losing more quality opportunities that they would otherwise have than women are.
Also, IIRC, there are some indications that a variety of social problems (including certain types of crime and violence) tend to increase with the proportion of long-term unemployed men but not so much with unemployed women, so even beyond the degree to which it is a problem for men, the problem men experience because of it may be disproportionately a problem for society as a whole.
> I can't help but think that an article this short can't be anything more than fluff.
Well, its mostly a call-out to another article of the author's, which is itself a review of a book by a different author. So, yeah, its not exactly intended as much of a full discussion of the issue it points to.
[0] "replace with jobs with very different entry requirements" may be more accurate in some cases, but the net effect is generally similar.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#23Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#24> "Job destruction caused by technology is not a futuristic concern. It is something we have been living with for two generations" If American thought leaders such as Larry Summers think that technology destroys jobs and that it's a relatively recent phenomenon, then America is truly screwed.
It's all just this century's Luddites
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's all just this century's Luddites
Nonsense. I encourage you to point out a single industry that has cropped up in the last 50 years that generates large numbers of high paying jobs that aren't subject to being automated away. In 1985 people freaking out about computers and networking was luddite behavior. Where are the 3.5 million currently un-filled jobs waiting for the truck drivers who are about to lose their careers en masse?
Space colonies? That or war.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#26Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#27Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#28I love this version of Larry Summers effecting an air of concern for the common man. It's almost like he never pushed for the deregulation of the derivatives market. Magic!
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#29Disaster is already here. In the 1950's you could raise a family with 2.3 children on a 40 hour work week. Today, families are struggling to make ends meet with 60-70+ hour work weeks. Technology was supposed to have made things more efficient. It seems to have had the opposite effect.
Families? In some cities, singles are struggling to keep a crappy one-bedroom apartment roof over their head.
Re: A disaster is looming for American men
#30seems easy to deal with, but there is no political capital to do so. invest in public infrastructure (roads, buildings, schools, health) and there will be lots of jobs. no one is automating construction away any time too soon.
1) an interesting parallel to the decline of programming classes can be drawn as both have specialized instructor and facility requirements