Technology, The Economy & Politics
For all the presidential candidates talk about bringing jobs back to the States from overseas by cutting corporate taxes, regulations, closing the borders and imposing tariffs, there is another influence that none of the candidates are talking about. And I wonder how they'll deal with it.
What is it?
The technological advances that are taking over or about to take over in the coming years. I'm talking about the advances made in robotics where in the near future, automated workers will replace people. Not just here, but around the world. A recent Yahoo article talks about this and we better take note. Click here for more details:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rich-powerful-warn-robots-coming-jobs-011130242--sector.html
Another area where technology has become king is social media. It's been recently noted that Facebook sifts through ads, communications, etc. in order to block certain trending news stories via News Curators. All you have to do is take note of the side bar to the right of your home page, where trending news items are listed. Since many of the huge technology companies have their political preferences, they have the power to influence the masses by what they allow on the sites or omit. Same with internet news websites. Take a look at Drudge, Huffington Post, Breitbart or the NYT's. This area also affects jobs, the economy and politics. Big time. For more on this topic click here:
http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/03/surprise-facebook-blacklists-trending-topics-and-conservative-news-outlets/
Then there's Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Youtube live streaming. No longer do we rely on network television or even cable movie sites for our video entertainment. As long as we have a wi-fi connection, we can watch just about anything, anytime we want. So why bother with the costs of running television stations, supported by advertising when there's pay per view or you can join Netflix or Amazon for a nominal fee and not have to suffer through endless commercials? Think about how this affects revenues of those in the traditional field of television, advertising and movie making? There's already a lot of competition in these areas and with these advancements will come additional loss of jobs.
Another area where technology is taking over and affects jobs is the medical field. We now have FitBits, smart phone apps, laser non-invasive surgery, websites like WebMD and MayoClinic to help diagnose and in some cases treat ourselves. Consequently, do we really need to see our doctors/nurses/medical technicians as much as we have in the past? Additionally, do we still need long hospital stays due to outdated surgery procedures with the invention of out-patient surgery done with a local anesthesia where you're in/out in 24 to 48 hours? Again, this affects the job market.
One last area that needs to be mentioned in relation to the medical field. Since we can now order our meds online, this lets us bypass the run to the local pharmacy thus cutting more jobs from this area.
Or how about the slow decline of big box department and book stores? Why bother with those when you can hop online and buy just about anything your heart desires? With the invention of Kindle, etc. we can now instantaneously order whatever books we want. No need for hard copies. Same can be said for newspapers and magazines.
The list goes on and on.
No doubt with these advancements, there are new jobs and ones yet to be created. But does it help the current factory workers, clerks and cashiers at department stores, pharmacies or even fast food chains where already there are robots handling these jobs? Can any presidential candidate promise them jobs if they are not experienced in this field? Food for thought.
The bottom line is we are on the way to a whole new world and one I haven't seen addressed by any of our presidential candidates. They continue to talk about increasing jobs and making America great again, but don't seem to be taking into account the age of technology and how it'll affect employment in the future.
What is it?
The technological advances that are taking over or about to take over in the coming years. I'm talking about the advances made in robotics where in the near future, automated workers will replace people. Not just here, but around the world. A recent Yahoo article talks about this and we better take note. Click here for more details:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rich-powerful-warn-robots-coming-jobs-011130242--sector.html
Another area where technology has become king is social media. It's been recently noted that Facebook sifts through ads, communications, etc. in order to block certain trending news stories via News Curators. All you have to do is take note of the side bar to the right of your home page, where trending news items are listed. Since many of the huge technology companies have their political preferences, they have the power to influence the masses by what they allow on the sites or omit. Same with internet news websites. Take a look at Drudge, Huffington Post, Breitbart or the NYT's. This area also affects jobs, the economy and politics. Big time. For more on this topic click here:
http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/03/surprise-facebook-blacklists-trending-topics-and-conservative-news-outlets/
Then there's Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Youtube live streaming. No longer do we rely on network television or even cable movie sites for our video entertainment. As long as we have a wi-fi connection, we can watch just about anything, anytime we want. So why bother with the costs of running television stations, supported by advertising when there's pay per view or you can join Netflix or Amazon for a nominal fee and not have to suffer through endless commercials? Think about how this affects revenues of those in the traditional field of television, advertising and movie making? There's already a lot of competition in these areas and with these advancements will come additional loss of jobs.
Another area where technology is taking over and affects jobs is the medical field. We now have FitBits, smart phone apps, laser non-invasive surgery, websites like WebMD and MayoClinic to help diagnose and in some cases treat ourselves. Consequently, do we really need to see our doctors/nurses/medical technicians as much as we have in the past? Additionally, do we still need long hospital stays due to outdated surgery procedures with the invention of out-patient surgery done with a local anesthesia where you're in/out in 24 to 48 hours? Again, this affects the job market.
One last area that needs to be mentioned in relation to the medical field. Since we can now order our meds online, this lets us bypass the run to the local pharmacy thus cutting more jobs from this area.
Or how about the slow decline of big box department and book stores? Why bother with those when you can hop online and buy just about anything your heart desires? With the invention of Kindle, etc. we can now instantaneously order whatever books we want. No need for hard copies. Same can be said for newspapers and magazines.
The list goes on and on.
No doubt with these advancements, there are new jobs and ones yet to be created. But does it help the current factory workers, clerks and cashiers at department stores, pharmacies or even fast food chains where already there are robots handling these jobs? Can any presidential candidate promise them jobs if they are not experienced in this field? Food for thought.
The bottom line is we are on the way to a whole new world and one I haven't seen addressed by any of our presidential candidates. They continue to talk about increasing jobs and making America great again, but don't seem to be taking into account the age of technology and how it'll affect employment in the future.
posted by Candle in the Wind at
7:46 AM
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