Joblessness is welcomed by the left because it forces increasing numbers of people into dependency on the state. It is widely, and correctly, believed that everyone has a right to food, shelter, light, etc. Only a government that takes from the rich and gives to the poor can force that to happen.When we think about the number of jobs that actually have to be done, it may surprise us to see how many can be eliminated. In our own lifetimes, millions of soda jerks and gas pumping jobs have disappeared. More are sure to follow.
Consider a factory that produces plastic furniture. Railcars of resin are delivered. One truck driver delivers twenty or thirty million pounds a year. The plastic pellets pumped into silos. Then, they’re pumped to injection molding machines. The plastic is melted by the pressure of screws turning in barrels, and is injected into the cavity of an injection mold. The plastic cools, the mold opens, and a chair comes out. The chairs are stacked on plastic pallets made of reground, recycled plastic. When needed, a forklift comes, picks up the stack of furniture, and takes it to a storage facility. Lots of furniture is produced with very few people. Naturally, this furniture is much cheaper than that made of wood or metal. It lasts about as long, is easy to clean, doesn’t crack or splinter, and the bright variety of vibrant colors don’t fade.
A generation or so ago, it took a reasonably skilled craftsman several hours to cut and plane the wood, assemble the pieces, sand, prime, and paint them and end up with one Adirondack chair. Now, three or four far less skilled workers in a chair-manufacturing facility produce 1,200 plastic Adirondack chairs in one day. The output of chairs to manufacturing employee has gone from 1 to 350. If the number of chairs stays the same, we can see that 249 jobs have been eliminated but the world has the same number of chairs.
The same thing has been going on in everything we’ve done since potters’ wheels began to turn. Now, automation is in virtually every area of production. These relentless advances are putting so many people out of work that there will never again be as many people making things. What will governments do to make things better? Not much.
In the face of seeing not only the production of goods, but also, the distribution of services automated, government is in a pickle. It has problems that it has never been able to solve without war. Even that, as we see with the drones delivering bombs and rockets to enemy targets, is becoming automated. What’s a government to do? Declare war on its own people? That’s what England and France are doing, bringing in invaders, under the guise of “immigration” to destroy and replace native people who still have dim memories of having jobs and owning houses. And, looking at recent Amercan policies in taxing, spending, environmentalism, regulation, and control, our Government is waging its biggest war not on the Moslems bent to destroy us, but upon its own citizens.
