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Has technology made industry so efficient that people are becoming obsolete?

I mean, in the last 100 years tons of jobs have been given to computers, putting people out of work. I mean, how can six bilion people all have meaningful jobs when there is only so much money to go around - I thought technology would create a utopia where no one had to work, but instead its killing jobs and creating a welfare state. I hope I'm wrong.

Asked By: burton235 - 12/11/2008
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
The problem is from people, not from technology.

Technology only makes uneducated/under educated people obsolete. It actually increases the demand for workers with skills more than ever, even today when we are in a recession. This country becomes a welfare state because not many people are willing to put that much effort to dedicate themselves to do those hard jobs.

also because It is no longer considered smart if you work hard to earn a fortune. People today generally admire p****s making big money managing real estate, and laugh at white collar technology nerds who work 14-hours a day + weekend, making tons of money but never enjoying a day of life. Not to mention those hard-working people are more likely to become victims of crimes and win no sympathy from the others. It's not surprising to see people rather blame computers than working harder themselves - because working hard doesn't pay off any more.
Answered By: Farmer plows ground - 12/11/2008
Additional Answers ()
Good question. A lot of the jobs left in the U.S. are service industry related or pushing paper and crunching numbers. Eventually that will collapse and then we are in trouble, sort of like right now. If the Big 3 are allowed to fail, we will be in much worse shape.
Answered By: Bub - 12/11/2008
It is the Information Age in the modern economies. You would expect industrial activity to be less of a contributing factor to GDP. People who refuse to learn beyond their young adulthood are probably going to be obsolete.
Answered By: thomas p - 12/11/2008
I think so and I agree, for example businesses hardly have a live person for customer service, plus internet access to everything instead of calling or going in to see someone, the self check out lines at the supermarkets and so on. Saves the companies a lot of money for labor.
Answered By: lostintranslation - 12/11/2008
Things are set to turn full circle. We are coming to a point where machines have been used to design machines for so long that they will need people to keep an eye on them and eventually learn how to reverse engineer them. My blog called the "technological singularity" may lead you to some important information on the subject.

http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10009762o-2000578623b,00.htm

http://rogerandre.weebly.com
Answered By: roger andre - 12/11/2008
Greed for the all mighty dollar is what is killing jobs and creating a welfare state.
Not only do we replace people with computers but those same people that were replaced with a computer will gladly use a computer to buy a product on ebay to save a buck rather than buy it from their local buisnessman.
We will beat a car dealership out of every last penny possible in order to get the best deal and keep the most money we can in our pockets (with complete disregard to what might be a fair profit for them) but we will also sell that same vehicle for thousands of dollars profit to our very own neighbor if given the opportunity.
Greed for the all mighty dollar is what makes our country prosper but it is ironic that it will also be what brings us to our knees.
"Fair" is a word that has become almost completely lost when it comes to money in our country. It's all about "what's best for ME"
Answered By: Todd - 12/11/2008
Yes.

Black smiths, wagon makers, buggy whip makers, coal shovelers on railroad trains, ox team drivers, sword makers, slaves, gun fighters, and hundreds of others, all obsolete.
Source(s):
I wire up the computers. Electrician
Answered By: cbjack - 12/11/2008
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