On 11/22/16 2:24 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
See: http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/17/technology/trump-tech-populism-automation/
QUOTE "It's going to get worse. The inequality will get worse. There's going to be more anger and social upheaval," said Martin Ford <https://econfuture.wordpress.com/about/>, author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. "What we're seeing is in large measure because of technology."
Read Marshall McLuhan who hashed out many of the effects of new technology on humans and society in his books and videos. McLuhan observed that "when identity is threatened, violence occurs".
Automation, digital technology, and eventually, cold fusion energy, obsolesces the institutions that grew from the previous environment of fossil fuels and literacy. The loss of "jobs" with the replacement of "roles", McLuhan's prediction, is happening now, and will continue. For instance, I have a "role" to play in the advocacy of breakthrough energy, but there is no job for me in that capacity.
When people have more free time (as we all do when we become unemployed), they have to confront themselves: what do they now do with their time? This is startling for many, and requires a new mindset to navigate. That mindset is part of a new identity. Who likes change that much to want to swap their identity out? Not many - not me! Nevertheless, that is what we all have to do just about continuously nowadays.
"Effects precede consequences." is another McLuhanism. I interpret this as understanding we are living the cold fusion lifestyle now. I am effectively unemployed, though still work my butt off at multiple part-time jobs just to pass off the minimum wage compensation to my creditors. The friction exists because although I am living the free lifestyle with the ability to choose what I want to do with my time, I am still forced to operate in the old environment where dependency on central services is a requirement for societal participation. It is exhausting, and causes debilitating tension. Yet it is from these "vortices" that the technology will emerge from. I really liked Harry's long ago post about Eno's "scenius" to give that idea another example.
"Every technology creates a war." "War is education." "Education is war." These simple slogans hold a lot of meaning and insight into how we can respond better, and create the world we want with minimal friction. It's not happening that way now, but it could, and it will for some of us.
I am hoping and wishing and praying for Breakthrough 2017 so as to accelerate this transition and start living the life I can only dream about.
-- Ruby Carat The Left Coast Eureka, CA USA
