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It's Not Technology That's Disrupting Our Jobs (nytimes.com)

The history of labor shows that technology does not usually drive social change, argues Louis Hyman, director of the Institute for Workplace Studies at the ILR School at Cornell. On the contrary, social change is typically driven by decisions we make about how to organize our world. Only later does technology swoop in, accelerating and consolidating those changes. From a report: This insight is crucial for anyone concerned about the insecurity and other shortcomings of the gig economy. For it reminds us that far from being an unavoidable consequence of technological progress, the nature of work always remains a matter of social choice. It is not a result of an algorithm; it is a collection of decisions by corporations and policymakers. Consider the Industrial Revolution. Well before it took place, in the 19th century, another revolution in work occurred in the 18th century, which historians call the "industrious revolution." Before this revolution, people worked where they lived, perhaps at a farm or a shop. The manufacturing of textiles, for example, relied on networks of independent farmers who spun fibers and wove cloth. They worked on their own; they were not employees.

In the industrious revolution, however, manufacturers gathered workers under one roof, where the labor could be divided and supervised. For the first time on a large scale, home life and work life were separated. People no longer controlled how they worked, and they received a wage instead of sharing directly in the profits of their efforts. This was a necessary precondition for the Industrial Revolution. While factory technology would consolidate this development, the creation of factory technology was possible only because people's relationship to work had already changed. A power loom would have served no purpose for networks of farmers making cloth at home. The same goes for today's digital revolution.

128 comments

  1. Uhm, duh by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Industrial Revolution didn't start in the 19th century, it started in the 18th century.

    This isn't a real story. It is a story about an academic who selected some niche terminology to make normal stuff sound like something new. But a new phrasing is something new in the present, not something newly discovered about the past.

    1. Re:Uhm, duh by mikael · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's been happening for centuries:
      A programmable punch card loom replaced the need to have a group of four or more artisans spending weeks making one garment, and where no two were perfectly identical. The punch card operator just needed to make sure that the thread reels never ran out and even that was automated. That led to the Luddites. One that battle was over, looms could be powered by waterwheel power, then steam engines, then by electricity. Punched cards were replaced by electronics and then digital media. It only takes one Photoshop artist and a technician to operate 15 digital looms.

      Automated traffic lights replaced the need for traffic police. Automated elevators replaced the need for elevator operators. Automated telephone exchanges replaced the need for telephone operators.

      We had the Wapping dispute where print workers refused to modernize. They had left it so late to catch up, that by the time the management wanted to introduce new technology, those print shops consisting of copper drums, boilerplate and teams of men adding and removing metal print would be replaced by a commercial laser printer running PostScript and no-one was needed to convert journalist shorthand into metalwork. Their jobs had been vapourized overnight. This was before the internet so they couldn't retrain as web page designers.

      In the 1990's, there was the goal of the "paperless office". By using high resolution large screens, there was less need to print documents out. The other advantage was that they could flatten management structures by going from a 1:3 ratio of directors:managers:supervisors:engineers down to a 1:10 ratio. Those managers either took retirement or moved into the financial industry.

      The next phase is that engineers want to focus on one particular skill or set of skills, while project managers like to push engineers "outside their comfort zone" so that no one person is irreplaceable. That just leads to engineers choosing to be freelancers and contractors so that their duties are tied down in writing and they don't get nudged out of the way as new employees arrive.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    2. Re:Uhm, duh by careysub · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Industrial Revolution didn't start in the 19th century, it started in the 18th century.

      This isn't a real story. It is a story about an academic who selected some niche terminology to make normal stuff sound like something new. But a new phrasing is something new in the present, not something newly discovered about the past.

      You are right there is a big problem with this guys story - though not quite what you are saying.

      I have been a student of the Industrial Revolution, and how it started, for a long time. And the concept of the "industrious revolution" has some validity I think, but it is nothing like what this guy describes.

      In the industrious revolution, however, manufacturers gathered workers under one roof, where the labor could be divided and supervised. For the first time on a large scale, home life and work life were separated. People no longer controlled how they worked, and they received a wage instead of sharing directly in the profits of their efforts. This was a necessary precondition for the Industrial Revolution.

      This. Didn't. Happen. There is no other way to put it. No, textile workers were not gathered into big pre-industrial workshops to spin thread, or weave cloth. They did this at home. The "industrious" part was the high degree of organization that this distributed textile industry achieved -- "putters out" distributed raw cotton to households, collected the thread that was spun, passed it on to homes were weaving was done, then collected the cloth. Businessmen in London financed this vast operation, and would later put their capital into factories. This large scale system of central organization, and the increased output it generated are the real "industrious revolution", along with the growing sophistication in the mechanical arts, which was the prerequisite for building factory machinery.

      This was a necessary precondition for the Industrial Revolution. While factory technology would consolidate this development, the creation of factory technology was possible only because people’s relationship to work had already changed. A power loom would have served no purpose for networks of farmers making cloth at home.

      Quite so. Which is why it wasn't invented until textile factories had been in operation for 15 years (1785) and first factory to use them wasn't built until 1790. The first factories didn't weave cloth, they spun thread, a much simpler process. Thread spinning factories put everyone did it on a spinning wheel out of work in the 1770s. The spinning jenny was invented in 1764, and factories using it (and Arkwright's water frame) started going up by 1770.

      Home weavers took it on the chin full force 1810-1820 when weaving machines that could handle the many weights of fabric and weaving patterns became available. It was around 1811 that the Ned Ludd legend arose, with the Luddites.

      And yes there was a pre-existing process that was changing the relationship to work. It was called "enclosure". Common fields that had been used by farmers for centuries were reorganized into estates that could be sold (or mortgaged), which created a new class of unemployed people - who could be put to work in factories.

      The problem for the textile craftswomen and men of England was not that they were herded into workshops or factories, it was that factory equipment was something like 100 times as productive as spinning wheels (and later looms), so it required very few people to operate. Everyone else was simply put out of work.

      Seriously this guy's article is a fun-house mirror version of real history. He is "an economic historian"? Dear Lord.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    3. Re:Uhm, duh by careysub · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Indeed I just looked up the key paper defining this concept (in English) which is De Vries, J. (1994). "The Industrial Revolution and the Industrious Revolution. The Journal of Economic History", 54(02), 249–270 (doi:10.1017/s0022050700014467, you can get it with Sci-hub).

      There is nothing in this paper about workers being herded into workshops. Instead the claimed "industrious revolution" is asserted to be increased intensity of work in the home for market (as I described above) to purchase goods from outside. Here is a key statement of this from the paper (p. 262):

      A shift from relative self-sufficiency toward market-oriented production by all or most household members necessarily involves a reduction of typically female-supplied home-produced goods and their replacement by commercially produced goods. At the same time, the wife was likely to become an autonomous earner.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    4. Re:Uhm, duh by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Love it when someone who knows his shit addresses an "article".

    5. Re:Uhm, duh by Cytotoxic · · Score: 2

      You would enjoy journal club.

      In academic circles it is commonplace to have a journal club organized around your specialty. A group of researchers and graduate students meets to discuss journal articles relevant to their field. Sometimes it is exciting because you get to talk about someone opening a new area of inquiry or finding an interesting new fact. Other times it is exciting because you pick apart a paper that is completely unsupported by the results included in the paper.

      Those are actually the best. There are a lot of articles that get published that never should have been published... even by the most prestigious journals.

      Journal club is perhaps the best place to learn how to understand good experimental design and clear reasoning based on results.

      The best club I was ever in did it in a very interesting way. We would bring in cutouts of just the materials and methods and the results. Then everyone had to analyze the results and draw our own conclusions as a group. Only then would we unveil the paper's conclusions section. It made for some very clear-headed analysis. Very often the authors of a paper don't include enough data to support their conclusions, even if they actually do have other results (not published) that further bolster their conclusions.

      Anyway, the whole process is a lot of fun and it often looks just like carysub's take above.

    6. Re:Uhm, duh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We had the Wapping dispute where print workers refused to modernize. They had left it so late to catch up, that by the time the management wanted to introduce new technology, those print shops consisting of copper drums, boilerplate and teams of men adding and removing metal print would be replaced by a commercial laser printer running PostScript and no-one was needed to convert journalist shorthand into metalwork. Their jobs had been vapourized overnight. This was before the internet so they couldn't retrain as web page designers.

      What about the scribes the print workers displaced to begin with? Did the print workers make sure they were taken care of? Or did they tell them to become web designers?

      In almost all of your examples the jobs wouldn't exist without technology - phone operators, elevator operators, traffic police. Irony meter pegged.

    7. Re:Uhm, duh by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Before phones there was the telegraph, and before that messengers on horseback or on foot.

    8. Re:Uhm, duh by KingBenny · · Score: 1

      wow, a comment on top by someone not pigmentally challenged on either side of the spectrum :) that's becoming rare, you think that's sabotage or something ? a bit like the cambodian campaign against intellectuals ... not that i would classify the classic crowd here as intellectual more as l33t hahah, well its obvious not machinery and computers that make breeding more humans a dangerous passtime , eyes on the future, ofcourse not ...

      --
      Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?
  2. That seems a glib and useless take on the subject. by RyanFenton · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, it's not the technology, but the people that no longer need to hire people that are 'at fault'... lovely. Thanks for that insight!

    The whole point isn't who to blame. It's the fact that technology is exposing a deep, deep flaw in the structure of our society.

    If folks don't need to use other people to make money and own virtually everything, the economy itself is useless for any meaningful society.

    And if technology makes it so that anyone that gets ahead can almost automatically build to the point where they break the idea of a meaningful economy.. then basing that society or economy on people being paid for things that can be automated is a losing move in the larger game.

    If society at large seeks to actually serve to expand human experience beyond just the needs of the ultra-rich, then it likely should seek to use that same technology to get people to legitimately help other people, rather than just have the rich monetize more aspects of their lives.

    The whole idea of corporations is kind of a new idea historically - we can invent other ideas, with more forethought than the way courtrooms defined the things we have running the world right now.

    But we do have to understand why technology will end the good things about our current economy, beyond just finding folks to blame.

    Ryan Fenton

  3. Not really by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is an example of learning too much from history. Pick one or two examples that fit nicely into a theory, declare it a law or principle, and then use it to judge or predict other events. Other events may or may not fit the pattern, so it's still a crap shoot whether you can use this to predict or understand anything else.

    Uber was enabled by technology, not by some sort of social pattern.

    1. Re:Not really by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. But this is what passes for academic research.

    2. Re:Not really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is not in any way learning *from* history. Or *too much* learning.

      That would be called "not learning from history" or perhaps "fitting data to a curve" instead of "curve fitting."

    3. Re: Not really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your tricky punctuation obscures any message you wanted to deliver.

  4. Cart before horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    FTFA:

    It's worth stressing that the 'technology' of temp work - and the possibility of replacing entire work forces with it - existed for years before corporations made the decision to start adopting it.

    More like the 'theory' of temp work rather than fact because the technology wasn't there to economically support it.

    Today's smartphone app is an easy way to hire a temp, but is it really that much easier than picking up a phone was in 1950?

    Um, yes.

  5. Go Tell it to Steam Train Engineers by BrendaEM · · Score: 1

    Generally, technology can erase entire industries.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
    1. Re:Go Tell it to Steam Train Engineers by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      the railroads are still here. the engineers learned to drive diesel-electric

    2. Re:Go Tell it to Steam Train Engineers by geggam · · Score: 1

      I missed the coal tenders and the guy in the caboose

    3. Re:Go Tell it to Steam Train Engineers by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      Holy Shit! You mean we don't use trains anymore?!

    4. Re:Go Tell it to Steam Train Engineers by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      the guys in the caboose were around on every freight train until the 1980s, steam had nothing to do with the lessened use of them.

      yeah the guy with the shovel was hit by the end of steam.

  6. Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Uber was enabled by a pattern of companies getting away with skirting regulation, calling it "disruptive" tech and pretending they aren't really just taxicabs. That's a social pattern, the tech just enabled the app. Don't be stupid.

  7. Wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Talk about putting the cart before the horse... You might as well say that computers had no REAL effect on how business is done and how people work, too. No, computers were invented because the world decided it needed them beforehand, right? I'm sure it's not because they were developed initially for other purposes, then later retrofitted to meet more needs because the massive potential of automated computing was recognized... I mean, who's Alan Turing, right? 200 years ago, I'm sure people were sitting on big cotton bails saying "Man, I wish someone would hurry up and invent the cotton gin, I wanna work in a factory."

  8. "Our jobs" ... Thinking like that is the problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Show of hands: Who here would switch "his job" for trying to achieve his dreams ... or just dreaming on a beach ... in a heartbeat?
    Yeah... thought so.

    But we believe that can't be, because to eat, we have to work. We have to give something, to get something.
    True. That's only fair.
    The question, is how much?

    Because when you compare the actual amount of real aka value-adding work ... and the amount that is so automated that sometimes the occasional maintenance by barely over one person keeps up as much as a massive factory ... versus the amount we have to work, to pay for what is mostly just mere profit ... then everybody of us should be able to live a life like right now, while working merely a hand full of hours a month ... or work like right now, and live in luxury.

    What is the key problem of this whole thing, is and always was, that it is apparently legal, to steal money and leech off of people that slave away for one, if one just makes sure every theft or robbery includes a small amount of legitimate exchange of equal values. (The actually earned amount.)
    Of course we're already one step further, as it is apparently already enough, if it is just a mere copy of the result of said valuable work. As in the example of data/media. But strangely not OK, if that result is money. Maybe because it's too obvious a crime.
    And it's definitely enough, if you don't even use your own work! Just call yourself a bank or stock trader, use the work of others, to get a third party to give you even more in return, maybe pay back the others, and keep the delta. Oh, I forgot, if you are a bank, you can just make up $92 for every $8 that you issue to your victims!

    The strange part is, how the average person out there is not only seemingly unaware of this, but actively rejecting it. ... Maybe because his whole "work life" would be a lie otherwise, and he could not handle having been such an "idiot" all his life.
    Why though? Nobody is an "idiot", for growing into a certain mindset / social conditioning / brainwashing. The idiocy is realizing one could massively improve one's life, and not doing it.

  9. Id-10t problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What an idiot

  10. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    Yeah, because no companies got away with skirting regulations until 2010. It is a totally new thing.

  11. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Kohath · · Score: 1

    That was their business model and why they succeeded where others were driven out of business by the taxi cartels and corrupt local governments. But that’s not a broad social phenomenon.

    The technology enabled the service. Defeating corruption kept it from being destroyed by rent seekers.

    What social phenomenon preceded Uber that enabled it? Unemployment? If that's the answer, then this pattern predicts everything and thereby predicts nothing.

  12. Stop by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · · Score: 1

    Can we please stop using the words "disrupt" and "disruptive" once and for all? Nowadays in absolute most cases they are egregiously misused.

    1. Re:Stop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just disrupted my pants

  13. You know, Marx kinda said the same thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That technology doesn't come from a desire to be free from labor, but from a desire for higher profits and as a result people work for the machines, rather than the other way around.

    To quote Norm Macdonald, "No offense, but that sounds like some fucking commie gobbledygook."

    1. Re:You know, Marx kinda said the same thing... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      If people were getting free from labor from automation then working hours should be decreasing and yet the opposite seems to be happening.

    2. Re:You know, Marx kinda said the same thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are forgetting about the MASSIVE productivity increases that come with those steady hours. 40 hrs per week yields much more today than it did 50 years ago. It's not just profit increase, but productivity, which is a universal benefit to everyone. Marx never considered productivity increases in his view of tech.

  14. Technology enables change by petes_PoV · · Score: 2

    It is not a result of an algorithm; it is a collection of decisions by corporations and policymakers

    And those decisions are made from a range of options. Options that are created by technology.

    Until there were computers, there was no option to send email. A telegram being a poor substitute. Until there were webcams, there was no option for cheap and reliable video-conferencing. Until there were photocopiers the only option to copy documents was carbon paper or Banda copiers: poor alternatives, but the only ones.

    Technology created the options that corporations then adopted. Sometimes (like with video recorders) there were multiple options and people made a choice. But before those options appeared, there was no choice.

    So it is quite reasonable to say that it is technology that is causing the disruption. It is providing the options for disruption. All businesses do is choose which one to adopt.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
  15. The reality is... by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... money has been decoupled from productive activity and investment seeking the highest returns and so gone largely into speculation and basically sophisticated forms of rent seeking and fraud. Let's be honest, technology just speeds this along by enabling big compaies to engage in labour arbitrage. Taking advantage of the huge wage differences of people across the globe thanks to the internet and most people don't have the money or are incapable of moving from where they are at from different reasons. This naive idea that human beings are fungible widgets has put a serious strain on society.

    Let's not forget the concept of dead money, corporations are sitting on billions they are not investing in anyone or anything. We're experiecing total failure of capitalism and nobody noticed. AKA money is pooling in the hands of ceo's and the ceo's are just sitting on it, at sane society woud intervene and just start investing in people, tools and jobs if the corporate fatcats won't do it. So it's pure politics and mass political ignorance that's at the root of our problems. Basically people are rotting on the sidelines because our corporate leadership is an emporer with no clothes.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.co...

    1. Re:The reality is... by Kjella · · Score: 1

      The flip side to "Labour arbitrage" is that you think some workers have a god-given right to be compensated better than other workers. Like if you got the choice between hiring a software developer for $100k/year in Silicon Valley or $50k/year in the Midwest who have the exact same skills and can do the exact same job does it matter what the cost of living is in Silicon Valley? No. What you call arbitrage is what economic theory would call optimization, the jobs flow to where they can be done the cheapest. Those who priced themselves out of the market either need to have other skills/advantages to justify their wage or they'll need to lower their wage.

      Dead money is mostly an illusion, it's not like any company is putting the money in a vault and goes swimming in them like Scrooge McDuck. That money is in the bank and being rented out through loans, the problem in your linked article is that very few want to loan to invest because they're too uncertain about the future. When you create a global financial crisis causing interest rates to skyrocket and credit lines to be yanked across the whole economy it's no wonder those who do make a profit hold on to their money. I wouldn't want to be at the bank's mercy...

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    2. Re:The reality is... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Dead money is mostly an illusion

      It really isn't, money "invested" in stocks is money just shuffling zeroes and ones between different banks. If you're going to try to tell me the market is efficient I'd laugh in your face. Try to at least be educated enough before participating in a discussion.

      Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      If you're going to tell me the bottom 80% can't use more money to do more productive things I'll laugh in your general direction.

      US distribution of wealth

      https://imgur.com/a/FShfb

      http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesa...

    3. Re:The reality is... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      very few want to loan to invest because they're too uncertain about the future

      If our economic system depends on world stability and certainty to work, we are FUCT.

    4. Re:The reality is... by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      Are we really back to this "concentration of wealth" BULLSHIT?

      When has wealth not been concentrated? It has _always_ been concentrated. I'd argue that it's less concentrated today. Back in the day, some asshole of a King owned everything, including your LIFE.

      Or are we just choosing to measure between... say 1776 and 2018? Yeah, there was a reset for a bit.. In the Americas and in most of Europe. But this is a 250 year time slice out of.. what? 20,000 years of human history?

      When, in the vast majority of human history, not wealth not been concentrated (not counting the aforementioned 250 years)?

      Wealth will always concentrate unless you are willing to strip humans of freedom and free will.. One guy will always be just a tiny bit better at his business... He'll make just a tad more profit, save an iota more on expenses.. Slowly his fortune will grow.

      But in the end, you want to prevent that. You want to strip away any motive to work a little bit harder.. to scrimp a bit more, to save up for some desire or luxury...

      Anyone who starts with "Wealth Concentration" or "Income Inequality" is a communist. Not a socialist.. A communist. At some point, you want some elected or appointed group of people to decide "This is enough and no more!" You want to draw a line in the sand and say "No man may earn or have more than this"

      I say to you: "Go fuck yourself, I'll decide how much or how little is enough for myself"

      You are no more qualified to tell me how much is enough, than I am to tell you how much you should have or what you should spend it on"

      I'm so tired of you spoiled and jealous cunts thinking you have the moral superiority to decide for EVERYONE what is reasonable..

      Go fuck yourself twice

    5. Re:The reality is... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2

      When has wealth not been concentrated? It has _always_ been concentrated. I'd argue that it's less concentrated today. Back in the day, some asshole of a King owned everything, including your LIFE.

      We are far from the worst period in history, but that's not exactly something to be proud of. I read an article last week that looked at the amount of money made by labour versus the amount made by owning capital in the UK over the 20th century. The labour percentage was up at around 70% a few decades ago and is now closer to 50%.

      Wealth will always concentrate unless you are willing to strip humans of freedom and free will.. One guy will always be just a tiny bit better at his business... He'll make just a tad more profit, save an iota more on expenses.. Slowly his fortune will grow.

      Most people don't object to someone who is better at their job earning more. They object to the people with huge incomes that result from the things that they own, not from the things that they do.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    6. Re:The reality is... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Interest rates skyrocketing? Where? Sure ain't where I'm living, I'm basically paying my bank to be host to my money rather than getting interest by now.

      The reason nobody takes out a loan even at rates bordering on 0% is that there is nothing to invest in. When you want to run a business, you have to have someone to sell to. Producing makes you poor, only selling makes you rich.

      And with no money on the demand side of the economy, well, why produce?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:The reality is... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Be it as it may, the economy depends on people being able to buy and consume. No consumption, no economy. Funny enough, communism and capitalism had the same symptoms with vastly different diseases. In communism, the economy collapsed because there simply wasn't anything to buy. In capitalism, it's about to because while there's plenty to buy, nobody has the means to do just that.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:The reality is... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Yet most of the jobs ARE in Silicon Valley instead of the Midwest. And regardless of where you work, you get paid just enough to live there. Even if you are doing the same work. Which simply shows that it's a case or arbitrage like he said.

      You know why most of the jobs are in Silicon Valley? Because that's where the CEOs live and they want to micro-manage their employees face to face.

    9. Re:The reality is... by cheesybagel · · Score: 2

      Here's one of the so called failures of Communism in the Soviet Union's planned economy:

      https://www.nytimes.com/1981/0...
      Citing some of the thousands of letters reportedly received on the subject, Pravda said farmers were complaining that in some areas bread was being fed to cattle and hogs. A writer from Kursk said: ''I often see people walking out of a bread store with 15 to 20 loaves. Clearly it's not for them - it's to feed their pigs, chickens and ducks.'' Less Bread, More Meat

      If the farmers get feed grain cheaply, they can produce cheaper meat and poultry - and thus lower consumer dependence on bread. That, in turn, would free more grain for feed and help achieve the Government's longstanding goal of balancing consumption of meat and bread.

      Now see this news item a couple years back:
      https://www.reuters.com/articl...
      KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Mike Yoder’s herd of dairy cattle are living the sweet life. With corn feed scarcer and costlier than ever, Yoder increasingly is looking for cheaper alternatives — and this summer he found a good deal on ice cream sprinkles.

      “It’s a pretty colorful load,” said Yoder, who operates about 450 dairy cows on his farm in northern Indiana. “Anything that keeps the feed costs down.”

      As the worst drought in half a century has ravaged this year’s U.S. corn crop and driven corn prices sky high, the market for alternative feed rations for beef and dairy cows has also skyrocketed. Brokers are gathering up discarded food products and putting them out for the highest bid to feed lot operators and dairy producers, who are scrambling to keep their animals fed.

      In the mix are cookies, gummy worms, marshmallows, fruit loops, orange peels, even dried cranberries. Cattlemen are feeding virtually anything they can get their hands on that will replace the starchy sugar content traditionally delivered to the animals through corn.

      “Everybody is looking for alternatives,” said Ki Fanning, a nutritionist with Great Plains Livestock Consulting in Eagle, Nebraska. “It’s kind of funny the first time you see it but it works well. The big advantage to that is you can turn something you normally throw away into something that can be consumed. The amazing thing about a ruminant, a cow, you can take those type of ingredients and turn them into food.”

    10. Re:The reality is... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I fail to see the connection to what you replied to.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    11. Re:The reality is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Taking advantage of the huge wage differences of people across the globe thanks to the internet and most people don't have the money or are incapable of moving from where they are at from different reasons.

      Capital is free to flow anywhere, but not people. You could say we have: Free Markets not People!

    12. Re:The reality is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Technically speaking, the aboriginals of Australia lasted about 50,000 years without concentration of wealth.

    13. Re:The reality is... by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      So, propose a solution that doesn't strip people of freedom and I'll listen. But when you draw arbitrary lines in the sand and say "this is too much", well, we have a problem.

    14. Re:The reality is... by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      One other thing, you are aware that, for most people (not counting royalty), the wealth doesn't make it very far down the generations right? I read somewhere, once, that it's 3 generations... Then it's gone...

      Gen 1 earns the money through hard work or sound investments.. Whatever..

      Gen 2 has it way easier than Gen 1 and treats money with less respect...

      Gen 3 was born into wealth, has no concept of work, and squanders it..

      I've observed this with my own eyes.. When I was a kid, we had a family here that owned 300,000 acres.. Grandad had built up this vast business empire.. He had passed on and his kids were treating it like their own personal slush fund... The grandkids (my age) were spoiled beyond belief.. Arrogant, wasteful, you name it.... Their land holdings today are about 100 acres.. They had to sell off everything else to maintain the opulent lifestyles.. and even those are gone..

      The wealth will be recycled..

    15. Re:The reality is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, propose a solution that doesn't strip people of freedom and I'll listen. But when you draw arbitrary lines in the sand and say "this is too much", well, we have a problem.

      Sorry to tell you, you're the kind of person that gives birth to french revolutions. Your idea of "freedom" is slavery for everyone else. You don't seem to understand you aren't critical enough of your own worldview and whether there is massive gaps in your understanding of "did you really earn your money"? Did you really do it all by yourself? Or did mother nature bless you with good fortune in the right time and place in history? As a nerd I really depise how overconfident you are in your view, you should always be undermining what it is you think you know and looking for how an ideology or point of view could be incorrect and not be confident or overbearing in certainty. There are many alternative explanations beyond "this is what I earned and therefore this is what my conception of freedom" is.

      "The duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists, if learning the truth is his goal, is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and ... attack it from every side. He should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency."—Alhazen

  16. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What social phenomenon preceded Uber that enabled it? Unemployment? If that's the answer, then this pattern predicts everything and thereby predicts nothing.

    People leaving restaurants and having to stand in the rain yelling at cars to flag down medallion cabs, and pondering, "There has to be a better way of doing this..."

  17. independent farmers? by superwiz · · Score: 2

    So the whole Feudal system didn't exist? Castles as economic units controlled by a hierarchical power system were also a myth? So this is just wrong on facts. It's also wrong on conclusions. Without decimal numbers there would not have been a technology leap which occured in Europe after the crusades. That means no algebra. No subsequent cartesian geometry. And no calculus. No industrial revolution. Oh and all social orders stayed the same during all of these advances. It was all happening during the feudal time. Technology enables social changes. Sometimes they subsequently occur and sometimes they don't.

    --
    Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
    1. Re:independent farmers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The effects of the raise of the cities, guilds, trading unions and the reasons people mostly lived where they worked seem to be ignored in the submission as well. The history of manufacturing of glass in Venice is a good example of this.
      Later, there probably wouldn't have been a renewed interest in democracy and equality without Newton's laws in Europe in particular, and the effect of television as a cultural harmonizer in the US and elsewhere is missing. Without television the nationwide supermarket chains with their effects on retail workforce may not have happened and the mass collection of consumer information would have come much later, if at all.

  18. Re:That seems a glib and useless take on the subje by fireball74 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If I had mod points, I'd mod you up. The reason people don't want to hire people to do the work is because Technology is overall cheaper.

    While it makes good business sense to do so, if those now unemployed workers can't find a job because other people aren't hiring people, then eventually there will be few people left to buy goods and services. Peak capitalism looks horrible.

  19. and replace them with 60 hour work weeks and mini by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    and replace them with 60 hour work weeks and mini med Health Plans.

  20. Wow, Are retards getting more spotlight on SD? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Industrial Revolution: You're saying the this was done by choice of "let's do it under one roof ..so... we can save heating costs??" Wtf, is wrong with you? MACHINES bought by CAPITAL where put in factories that demanded PEOPLE to operate them creating JOBS creating more CAPITAL for the owners. Industrial revolution was ONLY a mechanical one driven by private CAPITAL.

  21. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Kohath · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You could make the case that taxicab rent seeking created an environment where the public was very poorly served. And that was the social phenomenon that led to Uber. But then every business opportunity caused by incumbent businesses offering poor service fits the pattern and we are back to this theory predicting everything.

  22. Sorta yes, and sorta no. by bferrell · · Score: 2

    A little etymology.

    See... Those farmers/"makers" processed raw materials into stuff and sold their stuff to people who did things with them and they were called "factors".

    Then they were gathered into FACTORIES where they processed those same raw materials.

    I often sneer at academics, but the level of academics has declined so far that's no fun anymore.

    I expect better of NYT.

  23. This is a bit like saying by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that it wasn't a bullet that killed JFK, it was the person who fired it. Which sounds reasonable, except that in the absence of said bullet he'd still be alive and that it was the accuracy of modern firearms that made the shot possible...

    In the last 50 years America has doubled it's manufacturing output while cutting manufacturing jobs by 1/3. Our public policy has almost completely ignored that. The end of large scale manufacturing jobs as the primary employer is more than anything what killed Unions, and most economists agree that loss of bargaining power is why wages aren't going up even though unemployment is low.

    This entire article strikes me as yet another attempt to fit the square peg that is corporate capitalism into the round whole that is society's well being. It's working backwards from it's conclusion.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:This is a bit like saying by evanh · · Score: 1

      Well said!

    2. Re:This is a bit like saying by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      In the last 50 years America has doubled it's manufacturing output while cutting manufacturing jobs by 1/3. Our public policy has almost completely ignored that.

      Cherry picking statistics? What was the growth in manufacturing jobs for the 50 years prior to that? 500%? What about the 100 years before that? 1000%?

      We had an explosion of manufacturing and then it leveled off and retracted some.

      How do you propose to fix this? Do we go full blown fascist? Do we give the government the power to dictate everything? You say we cut manufacturing jobs by 1/3.. I'll accept that as fact. How do you fix it? Do you order factories to keep jobs they don't need? I'll remind you of the fact that that is _exactly_ what happened in Venezuela...

      If we are going to tell factories how many employees they have, do we also force them to create positions that they don't need? It's not that big of stretch... If a factory can't cut a job, but no longer needs a body in a position, then that person has to just stand around all day doing nothing.. That is way worse than doing busywork.. So does the government create a task for them?

      Maybe that's not how we handle it... Do we order factories to not move abroad? How do they compete with goods built overseas for far less? Do we impose huge tariffs? Do we force our own citizens to pay higher prices for goods that could be had more cheaply? Do we effectively force them to live poorer (economically) lives because the government has decided that the cost of a good should be higher than it needs to be?

      You people keep argue that all the good jobs are leaving.. Well, how the hell do we fix it without fascism? (and I'm not being flippant). Maybe the jobs leaving isn't a bad thing.. Maybe we're going to enter an age of self-employment. You might think that's preposterous, but 200 years ago the idea that a huge percentage of the population would work in cubicles was just as preposterous, in fact it wasn't even an idea.. Nobody could have even imagined that.

      There will be jobs tomorrow that we can't even imagine today. 60 years ago the idea of a globally accessible internet, and all the jobs that come with it, wasn't a thought.. None of those jobs were even imaginable... No webpage coders.. No server room attendants.. No router designers... No system administrators... So, if you think you can see the jobs of the future, or the lack thereof, you are being self delusional..

      Nothing happening today, with our society, is new. We've been through it many times before... It all ebbs and flows.. The jobs we do today.. They are new jobs.. They didn't exist just a few years ago (in the grand scheme of our time). The jobs back then, they were new jobs.. Some guy was running a cotton gin.. it was a brand new job.. All jobs are new jobs at some time. And every time a new job is created, somewhere else a job is being phased out, because it is no longer needed. You must realize that at one point, even being a farmer was a new fucking job.. Some bastard was the first farmer.. He was doing work nobody had ever done before.. For fuck's sake, even being a plumber is a new job. There's been plumbing for less than 1% of human history. Do we mourn all those jobs that dealt with manually disposing of shit? The loss of those jobs was 100% by technology. Every fucking shit hauler lost his job.. Should the government have had a policy to keep them as a thing?

      The only way we fuck this up is to let the government decide how we go forward. Those brain dead morons are the last assholes that should have any say in this. I'd rather we left it up to a vote by McDonalds workers than a vote by the cunts that run our government (and I almost really mean that).

  24. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    Under the 'corruption' people were making a living wage. Now those people are comitting suicide as teenagers do their jobs. The teenagers in the meantime used to make better wages at fast food restaurants. I'll take that corruption any day of the week.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  25. Re: Gig economy? More like too lazy millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, mod this down because it is too close to the uncomfortable truth. You are not special, you have to earn your own way in life. You take resources? You have to provide resources.

  26. How to get and keep a job by DRichardHipp · · Score: 3, Interesting
    There is a very simple formula for getting and keeping a job. The formula works during all eras and in all cultures. It also works if you want to start your own business - simply substitute "customer" in place of "employer". This is the formula:

    $(problems-you-solve) > $(problems-you-create)

    It really is that simple. Just solve more problems than you create, and you will never have trouble getting or keeping a job. Technological innovation, government policies, cultural conventions, and the opinions of the director of workplace studies at Cornell have nothing to do with it.

    There are two ways of making this formula work. You can minimize the term on the right, or you can maximize the term on the left. Let's consider both cases.

    The principal problem you will create as an employee (or business owner) is that you will expect to be paid. Your employer/customer does not want to do this. It will be a problem for them. This is an unavoidable problem. There are other factors on the right-hand side that are avoidable, however. You can minimize the problems you create by being a nice person. Don't be a prima donna or a jerk. There is an entire self-help industry devoted with minimizing the right-hand side of the formula, so I'll say no more about it here.

    While there are limits on how much you can minimize the right-hand side, there are no limits on how much you can increase the left-hand side. So the best approach for getting and keeping a job is to maximize the number of problems you solve. Note that the better of a problem solver you become, the more income you can command without unbalancing the formula. So if you want to achieve "employment security", probably your best approach is just to learn to be a better problem solver.

    So how do you learn to solve problems? Practice solving problems!

    Everybody is all about STEM education these days, as they observe that people with STEM degrees tend to be better employed. My theory is this has not so much to do with the subject matter of STEM as it does with the way STEM is taught. In your STEM classes, the homework and the tests and most of what you do is solve problems. You get lots and lots of practice solving problems. And that ends up making the students better problem solvers. Courses in which you write long papers tracing the development of gender stereotypes in 17th century New England farming communities do not provide nearly as much practice at problem solving, which results in graduates who are not as good at solving problems, and who therefore have more difficulty making the aforementioned formula work.

    The problems you solve need not be technical problems. Problem solving tends to be an easily transferable skill. You might develop problem solving skills in math class, or playing chess, or working puzzles, but then end up applying your problem-solving prowess to management or administrative or marketing problems.

    The key is to practice solving problems. Practice constantly. Make it your lifestyle to solve problems. Make problem solving part of who you are. Do you see some litter on the ground? Pick it up and you have solved a problem. Are there dirty dishes in the sink? Wash them and put them away - another problem solved. Do you see a shopping cart that some prior patron has left in the middle of the parking lot at the grocery store? Push that cart to the cart corral, or back into the store. (Do not be tempted to say "that is somebody else's problem". Your goal should be to solve problems, not assign blame for them.)

    If you dare: end each day be reviewing what you have done and detailing the problems you have created and the problems you have solved, and resolve to do better the next day. If you are very brave, you can ask your spouse/significant-other to help you with that task, as they will often be able to point out countless problems that you created or problem-solving opportunities that you omitted because

    1. Re:How to get and keep a job by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      You can't get hired if $(problems-company-has) - $(problems-current-employees-solve) = 0

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    2. Re:How to get and keep a job by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >problems-you-solve

      Like a magician waving his left hand to hide the right.

      A job happens because you yield more than you cost. You can dress it up, but the unit of measurement in that equation is dollars and you know it.

      Go open up the spreadsheet the MBAs are using, see if their equations for departments/positions are measured in "problems solved". If not, see if you can figure out the only thing they care about when deciding if a dept/pos justifies its existence.

      We can look closer and discuss how something like risk aversion (eg security consultant) translates as "yield", but all that matters is the bottom line: A job happens because it's a net gain of money. I.E. it gravitates upwards, not down.

      We can revisit this discussion in 100-200 years when automation and AI bring options with far smaller numbers ("problems", lol) on the right side of the equation.

    3. Re:How to get and keep a job by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Just solve more problems than you create

      Marketers get wealthy by creating problems.

      "Your split ends look absolutely horrible, people are laughing at you, but you can fix them with our New Foo Cream 9000!"

    4. Re:How to get and keep a job by nine-times · · Score: 1

      There is a very simple formula for getting and keeping a job. The formula works during all eras and in all cultures. It also works if you want to start your own business - simply substitute "customer" in place of "employer". This is the formula:

      $(problems-you-solve) > $(problems-you-create)

      Ok, so I have to stop you right there, because obviously this equation isn't right. Let's start with the simplest issue, and point out that you mention "customer" and "employer", but neither of those appear in your equation. So I'm going to assume you mean:

      $(problems you solve for your employer) > $(problems you create for your employer)

      Right? Ok, so onto the next problem. Some problems are bigger and more important than others, obviously, so it should be:

      $(total value of problems you solve for your employer) > $(total value of problems you create for your employer)

      And maybe that's what you meant all along. But that's still missing an important component, which is that your wage is also a cost to your employer. So really, it should look more like:

      $(total value of problems you solve for your employer) > [$(total value of problems you create for your employer) + $(value of your wage to the employer)]

      To be fair, maybe you were including the wage as a "problem you create", but I don't think it's quite fair to think of your wage as a "problem you create". Now we can start to delve into details that are a little less obvious. For example, your employer is a person, and as such, he's probably not making decisions purely logically, based on objective fact. Therefore, it's probably more accurate to say:

      $(total value of problems you solve for your employer, as perceived by your employer) > [$(total value of problems you create for your employer, as perceived by your employer) + $(value of your wage to the employer, as perceived by your employer)]

      Or I suppose to condense it a little:

      {$(total value of problems you solve for your employer) > [$(total value of problems you create for your employer) + $(value of your wage to the employer)]} * (as perceived by your employer))

      But also, your employer has a budget, so maybe:

      if {[$(total value of problems you solve for your employer) > $(total value of problems you create for your employer) + $(value of your wage to the employer)] & (it fits into your employer's budget)} * (as perceived by your employer) then (You're employed)

      I'm sure this could be expanded even further, and admittedly it's not as glib, but it's a lot more accurate.

    5. Re:How to get and keep a job by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      Wow is your post a giant pile of trite oversimplifications that demonstrate you've never had to deal with difficulty in employment.

      While there are limits on how much you can minimize the right-hand side, there are no limits on how much you can increase the left-hand side

      Ok, I'd like you to work 36 hours in the next day.

      Hey, there's no limits, so you can do that, right?

      Everybody is all about STEM education these days, as they observe that people with STEM degrees tend to be better employed.

      People with STEM careers tend to be better employed. But we graduate 1.5 STEM students for every entry-level STEM job opening. If you get through that math problem, you will tend to be better employed. If you're in the 0.5, you don't get a STEM career and you get to "enjoy" life working retail (or similarly out of your degree's field).

      So, how about you pretend you're one of that 0.5 and solve that problem. You need to increase entry-level STEM job openings by 50%, or people are going to notice that capitalism isn't working out all that well for anyone who isn't part of capital, because we spent the last 20 years pretending that a STEM degree is the same as a STEM career and people are starting to notice our fraud.

      Or maybe it's not just an individual "solving problems" and overly-simplified equations.

  27. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Kohath · · Score: 2

    Under the 'corruption' people were making a living wage. Now those people are comitting suicide as teenagers do their jobs. The teenagers in the meantime used to make better wages at fast food restaurants. I'll take that corruption any day of the week.

    Note how you don't care about the public at all. That's why Uber wins, because you guys think the public exists to provide someone with "a living wage" rather than ride services existing to serve the public at a market wage. The public decided they wanted to ride, not be ridden.

  28. Re:That seems a glib and useless take on the subje by mrclevesque · · Score: 1

    "If I had mod points, I'd mod you up."

  29. Re: Gig economy? More like too lazy millennials by Monster_user · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Simple minded view which indicates blindness to the complications which have arisen.

    It starts out that to consume resources, man must invest and work to gather those resources.
    Next, trade enters the picture and individuals exchange resources and both are better off.

    Then banking enters the system, and rather than storing valuable resources, a placeholder is stored, an I.O.U. of sorts. Wealth is no longer perishable, it can be accumulated or saved over time.
    Then those that save wealth, who store favors, gain a disproportionate advantage over those that don't. They are able to acquire ownership over greater means of production, and take a larger share of the resources, or the stored value of those resources.
    Next the wealthy are then able to incentivize the workforce to engineer more effect means of production. Which allows them to gain more resources for less effort.
    Then things start to break down. A growing population requires more resources. Those who control the means of production can do so at such high levels of efficiency that they do not need the laborers. Without a need, there is no incentive to redistribute resources. Any resources the workers provide only dilute the value of those resouces, and thus reduces the resources gained in return.

    The next stage is one of two things, either those who have optimized the means of production begin giving generously from their capacity, rather than according to supply and demand economics, or the there is a layering effect, where the classes become separate economies or even nations. A third world country living amongst a first world country, potentially warring for the resources contained within.

  30. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by fluffernutter · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apparently you are ignoring the fact that Uber makes the roads more congested for everyone else. More cars means more wear and tear on the roads and more pollution. Many passengers who would have taken a bus or train or walked or biked, now use an Uber. You may be happy you can get a cheap ride, but since Uber also operates at a loss, you are being subsidized by tax payers, drivers, and Uber shareholders. Don't talk to me about not caring about the public.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  31. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by Monster_user · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is a old Bible verse about feeding 5,000 people. It starts with one basket containing a few loaves of bread and fish.

    As a people we produce more everday than we need. We have more than enough for everybody, but our economic system does not value human life intrinsically.

    Thus we value the individual's ability to increase production capacity and wealth stores. Not all are equally suited to such advanced thinking and foresight. In a purely evolutionary system these once strong laborers, the former backbones of our economy, the shoulders upon which we have stood, would die off due to not being able to acquire and manage the resources to compete in an ever increasingly intellectually challenging economic game.

    But there are those which ask the moral and ethical questions of "what am I working for?"... Are we merely working to i crease the wealth of a "noble few", while hoping to skim enough resources off the top to survive? Or are we working for some greater purpose? Are we working to ensure that all of humanity is free to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

  32. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Oh and by the way, in cities that have studied it to date, Uber has not made a dent in impaired driving cases either.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  33. Buses shut down for 58 days of the year by tepples · · Score: 2

    Many passengers who would have taken a bus or train or walked or biked, now use an Uber.

    People in my home town wouldn't have taken a bus today because today is Sunday, one of the 58 days of the year when the bus drivers are at home with their families. (Source: fwcitilink.com)

  34. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Kohath · · Score: 2

    Many passengers who would have taken a bus or train or walked or biked,

    Or just drove home drunk.

    now use an Uber.

    Yeah, they get to choose instead of corrupt governments choosing for them. That's why Uber wins — by serving the public.

  35. Necessity is the mother of Invention/Technology by vlad30 · · Score: 2
    Its a combination of things. e.g. There is a job that I need done regularly a manual labour job in this instance, we used to get 4-5 guys and get it done in 1-2 days then 15 years back OHS demands meant the job started to take 2-3 days this was bearable we could charge a little more.

    The government mandated various thing like workers and public liability insurance this could be dealt with too it affected everyone and could be shown to clients and the better employers had it anyway, actually levelled the playing field a bit. Then the last 3-4 years the workers got lazy spent to much time on their phones so the job started taking longer and longer on top of the extra costs impact from distracted workers on insurance etc.. So I made a piece of very low tech less than $500 that modified the main tool used on the job. A robot was available for $130,000. The job is now done by 1 person in 2 days. I no longer hire those workers and cut insurance costs by 80% as its based on number of workers and wages paid.

    So I like said a combination of things. All it takes is one last push for that the necessity to go over the edge

    --
    Your'e all thinking it, I just said it for you
  36. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Star Trek The Next Generation - S4E15 - First Contact

    passphrase : formally

  37. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Like I said, Uber has not made a dent in impaired driving. 'Corrupt governments' are not choosing for them. They can buy a car or take a taxi. Just because a person can take a car and give a person a ride for cheaper doesn't mean it is good for everyone. It may be good for you to get a cheaper ride.... You know what, fuck it. You obviously don't care about the people you are hurting. You completely ignored what I said.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  38. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can say anything you want, but that doesnâ(TM)t make it true.

    Drunk driving arrests are way down after Uber and lyft become available:
    https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/10/drunk-driving-arrests-decline-in-some-cities/
    Studies by the University of California at Davis and Moll Law Group found that arrests had declined by 32 percent in San Diego, 28 percent in San Jose, 26 percent in Sacramento and 14 percent in both Los Angeles and the San Francisco-Oakland area in the two years after ride sharing began in each of the areas.

  39. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    Results are widely varied

    "The team delved into whether ride-hailing affected crash rates in four cities: Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., Reno, Nev., and San Antonio, Texas — American cities in which Uber, the nation's largest ride-sharing company, launched, ceased, then resumed operations. And the results were mixed. Crashes involving alcohol decreased as Uber resumed services in Portland and San Antonio, but not Reno. And in no case did Uber's resumption of service result in fewer total injury crashes or serious crashes overall."

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  40. Remember French revolution by kzwork · · Score: 1

    Remember French revolution, this time, the guillotines will be high tech - with LAN interface and laser sharpen blades.

    1. Re:Remember French revolution by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      And hopefully the beheadings will be put online so everyone can enjoy them.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  41. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Besides, no matter what there is a cost borne by tax payers, other drivers and Uber themselves.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  42. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by Kohath · · Score: 1

    Cheaper, easier alternatives to driving drunk mean fewer people driving drunk?

    We're going to need some carefully designed "studies" to deny something like that.

  43. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    In a lot of cases, people have their car there and want to drive it home or Uber is still too expensive for them or too inconvenient. Don't assume Uber is the solution for everyone's problems.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  44. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You're proving my point, it's not a new thing. Disruptive regulation-skirting existed, the tech was what lowered the cost of entry into delivering the service. Otherwise they'd need call centers and dispatchers, like taxis.

  45. Even if his history was right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The kinds of social decisions we can make, that is to say, the kind that are practical, are determined by the technology available.

    You can't choose to have a city, and to have zero slave labor, if you tech level is only what the Romans had. The choice to abolish slavery was made only after the tech level made people productive enough that the city could function on the effort of paid laborers who are free to choose their own jobs.

    And so on.

    1. Re:Even if his history was right... by hazardPPP · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The kinds of social decisions we can make, that is to say, the kind that are practical, are determined by the technology available.

      You can't choose to have a city, and to have zero slave labor, if you tech level is only what the Romans had. The choice to abolish slavery was made only after the tech level made people productive enough that the city could function on the effort of paid laborers who are free to choose their own jobs.

      And so on.

      Actually, the Romans had access to a whole bunch of technology that could have replaced a lot of the slave labour but chose not to use it. They 1) thought it would be a bother to have a lot of jobless slaves and 2) figured slaves were cheaper in most cases. In other cases, they just didn't see the technology as something that could be useful for work and production, since they had slaves for that and didn't think there was any need to tinker with that.

      Just like today, there are a lot of things you could easily automate (the technology exists), but it's still cheaper to have people do the work...especially if you can outsource the labour to a cheap and poor country. You can see today when you go from a country where labour is cheap to a country where labour is expensive, that in the latter, there is a lot more automation.

      As for whether slavery was necessary in Roman society to build its cities...well, ancient China also had large cities, was technologically similar to Rome, but was much less reliant on slaves. Slaves existed yes, but were usually a much smaller portion of the population than in the Roman Empire and many emperors actively tried to ban slavery or reduce it.

    2. Re:Even if his history was right... by mikael · · Score: 2

      It amazes me that the USA offshores the transcription of medical notes and prescriptions to India, where in the UK, we just have our doctor print out the medication. In Norway, it's sent direct to the pharmacy.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    3. Re:Even if his history was right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      It amazes me that the USA offshores the transcription of medical notes and prescriptions to India, where in the UK, we just have our doctor print out the medication. In Norway, it's sent direct to the pharmacy.

      I live in the US and my doctor contacts my pharmacy directly when I need a prescription. Then I go pick it up. If there is particular urgency, it is available within the hour. This has been going on for at least ten years. So perhaps your information requires updating.

    4. Re: Even if his history was right... by NickGnome · · Score: 1

      At least 50 years...I had elder relatives who worked health care. But then it did not allow for as much privacy violation as the government and the guilds and the protection rackets desired. I like the concept of there having been an "industrious revolution", though. The economists I've worked with directly assign various dates in the 1700s as the start of the "Industrial Revolution". One comparative, before vs. after study I recall crunching statistics for put it at 1760. Others might just as arbitrarily cite Roman times and the massive water-mill driven grain mill/ bread baking factory, or the Halstatt culture manufacturing centers' production lines, or the first steam locomotive, or Rumsey's steam-boat in the 1780s, or Uncle Nick's improved internal combustion engine in 1867. But the primary employment problem, today, are the dishonest bodyshoppers.

  46. who has control has the money by bigtreeman · · Score: 1

    A case study is the agrarian movement, grain farmers in the north west USA.
    Who controlled the production, storage, transport or markets.
    Forming groups, forcing others out of business, manipulating the markets.
    Farmers co-operatives, middlemen, large business, opportunists, monopolies, government regulation.
    Different business structures formed in different states and went through a number of phases over time.
    It got complicated and they played rough because there was a lot of money and power up for grabs.

    --
    Go well
  47. Gig economy is not about technology. by sunking2 · · Score: 1

    It's about the current trend of people believing they can survive like a garage band pre record label signing.

  48. Job disruption? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's HR's job.

    1. Re:Job disruption? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      HR's job is to disrupt the hiring process, after you're hired, middle management is responsible.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  49. At odds. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The manufacturing of textiles, for example, relied on networks of independent farmers who spun fibers and wove cloth. They worked on their own; they were not employees.

    People no longer controlled how they worked, and they received a wage instead of sharing directly in the profits of their efforts.

    How, pray tell, is weaving cloth on your own and selling it to a distributor "sharing directly in the profits of their efforts" but being paid directly for your work is not? Both are receiving compensation for their work.

  50. Peak capitalism looks horrible by evanh · · Score: 2

    Especially when everyone thinks they should "get ahead".

  51. Forest anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So much seeing of trees here. Not much seeing of forest.

    You're in a cage with a machine that gives you plastic tokens which you can exchange for food pellets when you press a lever. One day the pressing the lever gives you less tokens than you expect.
    The dumber ones of you say "who's to blame for this? Stop other from pressing the lever and getting the tokens!"
    The less stupid say "I should get more pellets per token!"
    Most of you just press than lever harder and harder.
    Almost no one says "Why am I in a CAGE?"

    (And when someone DOES, you desperately try to silence him or her.)

    1. Re:Forest anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're trying to pick something you think is profound (but actually is quite stupid) out of something quite stupid. I don't try to silence either flat-earthers, crystal healing hippies or "YOURE ALL SLAVES BREAK YOUR CHAINS" preachers - the victimhood you embrace and want for yourself doesn't exist. You aren't being silenced, you are being ignored and (very occasionally, this is one rare example here) derided, deservedly.

      As for the text above, e.g. "While factory technology would consolidate this development, the creation of factory technology was possible only because people's relationship to work had already changed. A power loom would have served no purpose for networks of farmers making cloth at home."

      These vague statements seem to imply that people FIRST gathered in factories, THEN the equipment used in factories came. The spread of technology appeared because the relationship with work, specifically the tendency to gather in factories, had already happened.

      But this makes no sense. At most, you can say that these developed hand-in-hand. But if there's no equipment in factories, the incentive to gather in factories is not there. It would actually be costly and serve no purpose to gather workers in a factory if it was not more efficient than them working at home.

  52. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So much wrong in one post.

    Uber makes roads more conjested?

    No. Just no. If Tom takes a cab, drives his own car or takes Uber the same car is on the road. Uber and a cab as options removes Tom's personal car in a parking space, so less parking congestion. In areas like Manhattan where Taxi medallions are used to limit competition in the taxi industry and pass out favors to cronies, we hear about Uber possibly causing congestion. If true, that would simply mean that the artificial limits imposed by the state meant that the previous fleet was under-serving the public.

    Buses and trains are extremely heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. (in New York the subsidy is as much as $7 per ride. And they are pretty much the ideal case for a subway system) And trains don't go where Mr. Uber User wants to go. If they did, he'd take the train for a couple of bucks instead of an Uber for a couple of tens of bucks.

    Nobody takes an Uber for a commute that they would normally have walked. That's just silly.

    Uber operating at a loss doesn't mean that they are being subsidized by the taxpayers. Or the drivers. That's just silly. Taxpayers don't enter into it. Drivers work for an agreed reimbursement scale. They agree to specific compensation for each ride, before they pick the ride up. If Uber operates at a loss company-wide while they are in growth mode, that is up to the shareholders. You could have mentioned any lenders as well. Those groups seem content with the progress Uber is making.

    Your take is profoundly ignorant. People voluntarily coming together to provide a service that is in demand is by definition in the public interest. If the public wasn't interested in getting better transportation services, there would be no opportunity for Uber and Lyft.

  53. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So a study entirely designed to debunk the studies that show that Uber is good for reducing drinking and driving shows...... wait for it.... that Uber reduces drinking and driving, reduces drunk driving crashes and doesn't cost the taxpayers one dime, and doesn't infringe on citizens rights in any way.

    But the overall rate of crashes (which is much higher than just alcohol related crashes) was not statistically significantly altered.

    What a cherry-picked load of crap.

    The overall conclusion is "Uber is good for the drunk driving problem". Yet somehow that is supposed to be spun into "it doesn't help drunk driving".

    Wow, that's a lot of dumb all stacked in one place.

  54. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yup. You nailed him there.

    Uber doesn't solve every problem, all the time. Therefore we must ban Uber! I mean, yeah it is cheaper than the alternatives. But maybe it isn't cheap enough. And it is way more convenient than the alternatives. But maybe it isn't convenient enough!!

    We must ban this abomination before someone else is burdened by getting a more convenient, cheaper and more comfortable ride!

    What a tool.

  55. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by astrofurter · · Score: 1

    Are you kidding, bro? Uber has done more in a few years to reduce drunk driving than all the public service announcements and all the police jackboot crackdown campaigns ever in history.

    There are big problems with Uber's business model and their abusive labor practices. (How can they be the uncontested market leader, set their own prices, grossly underpay their workers, externalize their capital costs onto their workers - and still lose billions every year? Good old fashioned embezzlement??) But that doesn't mean there is no public benefit whatsoever from their service.

  56. Re:Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by jpaine619 · · Score: 2

    Oversimplification on your part, as well..

    No doubt you are partially correct, but I'd like to add that the government certainly played a role. What's a taxi license cost in SF? Here's an excerpt from a news article

    Some drivers spent 10, 15 or even 20 years on a waiting list, just for a chance to buy one for upwards of $20,000 to $25,000.

    That is fucking insane...The government created or at least maintained an artificial shortage of taxis.. That fucks over the consumer.. We haven't ever (that I am aware of) had anything even approaching a free market..

    $25K is not reasonable... And 20 years is not reasonable...

  57. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is completely false.

    In fact, some cities that depend on traffic ticket revenues are being hurt severely by Uber. They depend on those drunk driving arrests and tickets for revenue, and that revenue is dropping precipitously.

    https://www.miamiherald.com/ne...

    https://www.mercurynews.com/20...

    I get it. You hate Uber. You are going to shill away, no matter what reality says. But lets get real, worst case scenario, Uber is just another cab company. If they are bad in the ways that you believe, they'll crater on their own, without any need for FUD spreading.

  58. Re: That seems a glib and useless take on the subj by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's more like lazy bums looking for handouts while humans creates extinction event and topple all ecosystems for profit while lying.

  59. Re:Gig economy? More like too lazy millennials by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Great! You have a real job for them? Why didn't you say so!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  60. One Simple Test by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    Simple enough, remove the tech in question and measure the changes. I think one will conclude this article as foundationless

  61. It is a bit late to report EP Thompson's research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously?

    Johnston-Forest
    Operaismo / Autonomia
    Processed World?

  62. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This congestion also translates to more money spent around town and taxes collected as people are more confident in their ability to get from one place to another, and have more time to do it usefully. Congestion is also symptom of people spending money. It's not necessarily simply a bad thing.

  63. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody need by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Regulate Uber because they make life harder for everyone else not using Uber, exactly. Taxi's were part of a city transportation structure, Uber isn't. Companies who don't play along make things harder on everyone else. I'm not sure why the snide remarks, especially since you are electing to ignore most of my points.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  64. technology changes paradigms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its a simple enough concept

    things that were not possible before become possible and the range of potentials expands

    hurry up and get functional nano-tech working - i want fully postindustrial extant

  65. Re:That seems a glib and useless take on the subje by orlanz · · Score: 2

    The employees of a business do not produce enough value to keep the company viable. By their very definition, they get less for their labor than what the company gets in value. So they can never afford more than what their company continuously produces; employed or not.

    Additionally, lets say the market demands drop because of earnings shortages. What happens is either the service ends or the company gets replaced by a cheaper running solution to reduce their market price. Such as lower wages for the employees or shutting down of production lines.

    Keeping people employed for the sake of employment has been proven to be detrimental to society many many times in history. Just because someone is employed and obtaining a salary doesn't mean anything. There must either be value generate or subsidized from somewhere else; reducing the efficient of that other process.

    As for Automation, we have yet to see an instance in history where it has been detrimental to society as a whole over the long term.

  66. Re: Gig economy? More like too lazy millennials by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    You're being modded down because you're an uniformed idiot.

    The US graduates 1.5 STEM students for every STEM job opening. Simple math that even you can do will show that means a whole lot of people who "did the right thing", got a useful degree can't get a real job.

    "Well, they shouldn't have done that!!". Well grandpa, you just spent the last 20 years saying they should do that. In fact, "go get a degree in CS or something useful" has been your mantra for anyone who is looking for a job. Since you turned out to be massively wrong, why the hell should they listen to your rants now?

  67. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    Note how you don't care about the public at all.

    Note how you do not realize that the qasi-employees are members of "the public" that you are so concerned about.

    If you want to say "customers", say "customers". "The public" has interest far beyond any single business.

  68. Re: Kohath disregards history, thinks nobody needs by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

    That's why Uber wins — by serving the public.

    No, Uber wins by receiving massive subsidies from the government. In the form of the roads Uber drives on, and the welfare programs Uber drivers can turn to when they make below a living wage.

    So good news! You're paying Uber whether or not you use their service.

    But please stop pretending that Uber is some sort of innovative capitalist success story. They're just yet another case of a pig at the government trough, just with better PR.

  69. The "gig economy" not growing as much as hyped by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

    https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/...

    This and other similar stories are starting to make me wonder if the "gig economy" was at least partly manufactured as a marketing ploy by Uber and Airbnb and cousins, as a way of getting people to jump on the bandwagon.

  70. Re: Gig economy? More like too lazy millennials by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yep, they just arn't desperate enough for the STEM people, maybe we should just blame the liberal arts graduates for not making more robots are awesome and I should get one stories instead of the cliche of evil robot slaves over throwing their masters and taking over the world.