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From: toconnor@vcd.hp.com (Thomas O'Connor)
Subject: Re: Does Automation Take Jobs Away?
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Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 10:54:26 GMT
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lundberg (lundberg@expert.cc.purdue.edu.) wrote:
: I am a student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  I am
: doing a research project on Automation.  Any opinions on the following
: points would be very much appreciated.

: 1.  Does Automation Take Away Jobs from Blue Collar Workers?

No! It does however displace Blue Collar Workers.  It is a minor
point, but I think an important one.  There are not many companies
that invest millions of dollars in automation with the intent of
"taking away jobs."  They automate to save money, improve quality and
consistency, just to name a few of the many reasons.  The result is
that they do displace "blue collar" workers.  But remember that they
also create manufacturing jobs for the automation, service jobs for
the design, support and maintenance (that's me) of that automation.
The point here is that the economy is dynamic.  (See below.)


: 2.  What should be done with these workers after automation is
: implemented?

"What should be done with these workers?"  You ask this as these people
had no indepent decision making capability.  I may seem cold in my
answer here, but I am speeking as a fairly recently "displaced"
worker.

You will often hear economists speak of the economy as being in a
period of adjustment.  This is a fancy way of saying resession.  It is
in adjustment because the economy, including the labor is dynamic and
must periodically "adjust" to changes in demographics, technology, opinion
etc, etc.  (Didn't someone once say that the only constant is change or
words to that effect.)

The whole basis of the free enterprize based economy, which we so
grandly congradulate ourselves, it its ability to adapt.  Our recent
"victory" over certain communist nations is not based on a superior
political system, as some of our polititions would have you believe,
but the ability of our economic system to addapt in a way that
centrally controlled communism cannot do.  

Now for the cold part.  If we accept the proposal that our econimic
system is superior to others, then we must accept the fact that our
economic system requires periodic adjustments or changes.  This is
true from the highes order to the lowest.  The Mega-corps must be
flexable or they get stomped on, and individuals must be flexable or
they get stomped on.

In other words, it is no me who decides what to "do" with displaced
workers, but me the displaced worker that decides what to do.  That
means that I am always expecting the inevitable layoff.  I am always
financially preparing for it.  I try to practice life long learning, I
keep current, and just one step a head of the next guy.

What can others, including the government do to help this process.  I
would suggest that the single biggest thing would be universal health
care, and better education oportunities.

[Please note the the opinions expressed here are my own.]


--
Thomas J. O'Connor
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