Quote from Jack Ma:
> So what if the spent on Wall Street and the Middle East was spent on the > Mid-West of the United States, developing the industry there? That could > change a lot.” > I agree with just about everything he said, except that I quibble with this. The U.S. does not need more industry. We really are in a post-industrial era. We need things like basic research and improvements that reduce the need for industry and material goods. For example, with improved telepresence and telecommuting we can reduce the need to commute, which reduces the need for cars and roads, and reduces the maintenance burden. Another example is improved inventory control for the food chain from farms to grocery stores. This reduces wasted food, and spoiled food. You can often replace hardware with software. This will be easier with the upcoming generation of AI. If self-driving vehicles are deployed properly, they will also reduce the overall need for material goods. For example, there is no need to make all vehicles as large as an automobile that carries people. You could make millions of smaller vehicles only large enough to deliver groceries, packages or mail. The robot vehicles in Amazon distribution warehouses are far smaller than forklifts driven by people, but they do the same job as those forklifts, using less energy and less materials. - Jed
