Who speaks for the "("graying") segment of the population? We are too young
to retire and too old to be hirable in new positions. What happens (to
those who are laid off in the name of downsizing) with Social Security
reform when they raise the retirement age to 70? 12/22My interests are in the critical study of information technology and the sociology and rhetoric of science 12/22 The leaders of our eduational systems, as well as the general public, have missed major trends in demographic changes, a global information-based economy, the role of computer technology in the processing of information...and shifting political power. My hope is that these ideas will engage others in discourse 12/22 I would be very interested in hearing from folks working on issues related to raising productivity and (hopefully eventually wages) in routine service industries 12/22 The problem is that competition between groups of workers--both within a country and internationally--serves to depress wages at a faster rate than any decline in prices. 12/22 I'm examining social and environmental effects of restructuring..:how households and communities respond to the increasing use of subcontractors and other outsourcing (Brazil); whether working in hazardous conditions creates greater anxiety and depression for workers, esp. when they don't trust subcontractor workers at their site to work safely...; how industrial restructuring is affecting carbon dioxide emissions of nations in the world system. 12/22 How will this new technology be distributed?..When do humans become slaves to their tools? 12/22 I live with close friends in paid-up cohousing. We do a lot of trades. (My children trade a lot with each other also -- skills, produce, clothing, etc.) 12/22 Competition per se is not the problem, but rather the way in which society and particularly firms allocate work to individuals. (As our Dutch correspndent noted, there is no obvious reason why work hours and thus incomes should/could not be shared more. 12/22 The "competitiveness lamented by [some FWers]...is, I believe. a euphemism for "profitability." I work with unions whose members are losing their jobs because their companies claim they are going out of business (i.e. can't make a profit) due to "foreign competition." The usual response by companies to this problem is to compete by way of lowering labor costs...The "high road" to competitiveness...based on high value added processes and worker training...is still problematic because today's new workplace technologies tend to displace jobs. 12/22 I agree (with J. Ward) that our universities are flat-footed (not very strategic) and that most cower at change rather than seeing it as an opportunity to invest in the future and make a break with the past 12/22 (I want) to get some impulses and suggestions (from this list) to help build up better welfare and incomes distribution in our societies, e.g. are there chances for less consumption, reducing social and economic competition, and so on?. 12/22 Replying : Do you see a trend in democratization of the workplace at anything more than a theoretical level? What would productivity growth in services look like?Automated hamburgers? Computer diagnosis of medical problems? Robotic hairdressers? 12/22
