NP - The Myth of a Jobless Recovery

[Bekah]

Trouble is that automation is happening in Japan (!), India, Mexico and China, too.  It's cheaper than trying to feed and house thousands of workers no matter what their age and health.   Also,  the quality control is better.  

We get all these plastic or fabric products from China and a whole lot of them are not made by little peasant hands at the factory.  More and more of them are  made by robotic arms in big tin sheds. 

"The U.S. today is second only to Japan in the use of industrial robots.   Orders for new robots were up 41% through September from a year earlier, according to the Robotics Industries Association trade group. "
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204468004577164710231081398.html

And now there is the plastic copier thingie -  (I'll bet it's not just for home entertainment.) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-34445_1-57563395/still-emerging-for-now-the-3d-printers-of-ces-2013/

Bekah

On Jan 11, 2013, at 5:32 PM, Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:

> i suppose the following statement is boilerplate, but it really is
> astonishing, isn't it, that people managing businesses that make a
> profit operating ethically with unions & regulations would
> deliberately close those places and go somewhere where they can
> operate unethically, reinstate child labor and so forth.  at some
> point they have to realize what they are doing.
> 
> that's the point that would make an interesting dystopian story, if you ask me.
> 
> what can they be thinking?  is a few (okay, many, but it really
> doesn't buy happiness) extra bucks really worth doing something that
> cruel?
> 
> case in point, willard romney and friends recently held debt for delco
> and by holding up a bailout sent 17,000 union jobs overseas. something
> about "no steering columns unless you make these painful concessions"
> (see Greg Palast for details)
> 
> What goes through the mind of someone like that?  what kind of
> self-delusion makes that an attractive course of action?
> 
> i guess the mine owners' association meeting in Colorado during
> _Against the Day_ listening to Vibe's speech is the headspace such
> activities tend toward, and from, right?