Toward a World that Works for Everyone
[This article is an example of developmental or evolutionary history.] I look upon the recession of 1980-2 as perpetrated on the world to shed workers made obsolete by automation. (1) Workers were laid off, probably with offers to rehire, and then just not rehired because they’d been replaced by a machine. Recession layoffs eliminated the […]
(Concluded from Part 1, above.) I had a revelation one day in around 1990 driving my car through a small rural town on Vancouver Island that had always charmed me. We’d stop in a Mom and Pop restaurant, look around the M&P stores and shop. It was great fun. This time I was stunned to […]
Part 1 looks at Dr. Ibrahim’s well-stated case for a universal basic income. Part 2 looks at an article from 1998 discussing twenty years ago what Dr. Ibrahim is talking about now. COVID-19 and the case for the universal basic income Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, Arab News, Marc h 29, 2020 https://arab.news/gsb3x The idea of a […]
By 1998, when this article was published, automation had been stripping the labor market for one, perhaps two decades already. We were nowhere near considering addressing the social costs of automation. We were busy playing Tetris and loving our computers. If This is Your Job, Watch Out! Steve Beckow, Toronto Globe and Mail, June 1, […]
Here’s another article from 2017 that did not make the mainstream news media. I believe there is a lot of movement happening that most people have no idea about. – Sitara Elon Musk doubles down on universal basic income: ‘It’s going to be necessary’ Chris Weller, Business Insider, Feb 14, 2017 https://www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-universal-basic-income-2017-2?r=US&IR=T In an interview […]
In my view, this is one scenario the Reval is designed to address. The only linkage the article leaves out is that automation, as well as shipping jobs overseas, created a buyer’s market for labor, causing labor unions to fall and leaving workers unprotected. (1) The wolf that ate Wall Street: US economy roars amid […]
Letter to the Editor: Universal basic income is inevitable as we head toward a fully automated society Mahmoud Ramadan, Oct. 10, 2019 https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2019/10/letter-to-the-editor-basic-income The industrial revolution, which started with the invention of the first commercially successful steam engine in Britain in the 18th century, allowed Britain to literally conquer the world. All the other advancements […]
I’ve traced this lack of compassion that I feel back to the crib. My arms were tied to the sides of the crib to stop me from scratching as a result of having excema. I was wheeled into the kitchen and left there all night no matter how much I cried. (1) I concluded that […]
I’d like to address the issue of automation while articles on it are still fresh in memory. The issue of the impoverishment of society through automation isn’t new. Back in 1990, when I woke up to it, (1) almost no one wanted to hear about the subject. Most people loved playing Tetris and were enamored […]
The issue of automation is not new. What is new is that we’re now looking at ways of meeting the impoverishment of society that resulted – layoffs, loss of pensions, loss of benefits, minimum wage, contract employment, etc. – I see a universal basic income as the essential way of returning the benefits of automation […]
