"My interests are in : 1. Developing non-geographic based communities in an
information society to replace the geographic communities we are losing; 2.
Finding substitutes for consumerism and consumption as these are very
destructuve to the planet and our future survival. 12/23
My interest in this list stems from my general interest in the social
aspects and impacts of information technology, coupled with an interest in
U.S. social history....What is needed is to somehow make this problem
(technologies displacing jobs) a virtue. I recall reading about a high tech
firm which actively encouraged their workers to innovate their way out of
their own jobs (with a social contract ) to find them a new, comparable job
(in terms of skill level) in the company. 12/23
Futurework interests me because I believe that fully market-oriented
societies will lead us to ruin and because the implications for schools...
are of crucial importance....."Large social costs not counted in the
balance"--there is the key flaw in most arguments for supremacy of the
"bottom line." 12/23
I would hate to see this list turn into a Luddite's paradise and hope to
see the discussion of the positive uses of technology with regard to an
increasingly competitive labor market. I firmly believe that technological
advances in production are a positive force that needs to be harnessed to
our advantage (by increasing living standards). 12/23
I share the belief with many others that information technology as
currently employed is shaping up to be a powerful tool for de-skilling and
reducing the need for human labor, and thus plays a role in putting
downward pressure on wage scales...the notion that education and training
will make it possible for many more people to participate in the high
skill/high wage future is little more than a hoax. The world will simply
not need armies of experts in spreadsheet analysis, database design and
word processing....But all is not doom and gloom. We can hope that somehow
this capability for huge abundance with much reduced effort will somehow be
shared...How that might come about is an issue I am very interested in.
12/23
I hope that we can achieve some consensus on the quality and quantity of
work available now and also some consensus on future prospects. If we can
have some shared perspectives then it would be great if we could develop
some policy options for what might be done. Policy options should consider
the range of choices that might be available to the G-7 group of countries
and to the less developed as well. Technology is having a differential
impact among the nations. 12/24
I generally agree with the view...that the preferred future of dominant
elites in Anglo-American societies is something like South America ("the
Brazilianization of Advanced Capitalism")..My own research is on social
polarization in the UK and in Poland..following on from
deindustrialisation. 12/26
How do we discuss policy options without discussing politics? Does anyone
remember a mid-70s progressive futurist magazine named Working Papers...it
did a great job of balancing intellectual and political issues...it made
resolving political questions another policy issue to be explored. 12/26
...Some the grand old ideas may still have force. 1. The Lifelong Learning
Society
2. Friedmanian Economics (Living Wage for all engaged in Socially Defined
Good Pursuit (e.g. Lifelong Learning) 3.Conceptual Definition of Directed
Research Toward Desirable New Science and Technology 4. Socio-Economic
Alternative Structures, e.g. collectives, co-operatives, syndicate,
federations of collectives. 12/27
The (UK) Liberals support some concept of a citizen's, a guaranteed
demogrant to all citizens funded from a combined social insurnance/tax
system... In the UK we now pay out a lot in means-tested supplements to low
waged workers, which is really a subsidy toexploitative employers who keep
wages low. Basically I am for a demogrant if we tie it to some reasonable
level of minimum wage, because otherwise it just legalizes off the books
workers as a reserve army againsy organized workers. It then becomes an
issue of 'how much'. I would argue for basic subsistence - at least the
level of income support in the UK today - but that costs. It means the rich
and high earners have to pay more taxes....However, it is a feasible option
under democratic politics which offers something to the poor and to lower
paid workers. What do people think? 12/27"
Strange how concerns persist over time! Best for the new year, Sally
