Repost: The case for basic income, and co-ops
I originally posted this on my fiction, and wrestling review blog. Click here.
Automation will eliminate millions of jobs. Lower skilled work will be the first to go, but it won’t stop there. Higher level work like IT jobs are on the chopping block as well. Efficiency is prioritized by capitalism, and screw anything else. Critics on both sides have pointed this out. Society will have to adapt. Automation is an inevitability, and that’s fine. We’re entering a new industrial era.
The first industrial era lead to the decline of very important building blocks of society. Community, small business, and the family. Exploitation of the working class is another noted problem. The neo-liberal attempt to help the workers has failed. Minimum wage will only increase joblessness. Because in the long term, it’s cheaper to fill a store with machines. A store will require a much smaller crew.
Basic income could create a quasi return to what was lost. Which would lead to a healthier environment in the long term. A dual earner household would become unnecessary again. Which would decrease the pool of potential employees, and that’ll improve wages. For the jobs that are left at least. It also means more money, that’ll be spent by consumers.
The rise of fast food chains, and department stores slaughtered local business. One store can disrupt a local economy. The local clothing, grocery, and hardware store had to compete with a corporation that offered it all. Of course, this is impossible. So, they fell one by one. Same thing happened to a lot of family owned restaurants. If John, Jane, and their three kids run a diner. That’s five thousand dollars that could go towards sustaining the business. Which means the local economy will get some life put back into it.
Basic income will also make moving less necessary. Having to move out of town puts capital above organic relationships. Which is unhealthy, and it doesn’t help that many jobs have been sent overseas. Joblessness leads to drug dependency, because it helps them forget. Having some sort of income coming in will improve their outlook on life.
Automation will not completely kill off human run businesses. A niche market for small businesses, and workers co-operatives will form. The Mondragon Corporation is a co-operative, that’s been around since 1956. So, it’s an effective model for a business to emulate. The workers in this niche market would be paid well. So, automation isn’t the end of the world. Self-employment, and artistic development would have a golden era.
It’d create an environment that favors artists, writers, and the self-employed. The starving artist will be a thing of the past. The questionable content produced by the gatekeepers would be challenged. You’d never have to serve a boss again.
Support independent media!
Automation will eliminate millions of jobs. Lower skilled work will be the first to go, but it won’t stop there. Higher level work like IT jobs are on the chopping block as well. Efficiency is prioritized by capitalism, and screw anything else. Critics on both sides have pointed this out. Society will have to adapt. Automation is an inevitability, and that’s fine. We’re entering a new industrial era.
The first industrial era lead to the decline of very important building blocks of society. Community, small business, and the family. Exploitation of the working class is another noted problem. The neo-liberal attempt to help the workers has failed. Minimum wage will only increase joblessness. Because in the long term, it’s cheaper to fill a store with machines. A store will require a much smaller crew.
Basic income could create a quasi return to what was lost. Which would lead to a healthier environment in the long term. A dual earner household would become unnecessary again. Which would decrease the pool of potential employees, and that’ll improve wages. For the jobs that are left at least. It also means more money, that’ll be spent by consumers.
The rise of fast food chains, and department stores slaughtered local business. One store can disrupt a local economy. The local clothing, grocery, and hardware store had to compete with a corporation that offered it all. Of course, this is impossible. So, they fell one by one. Same thing happened to a lot of family owned restaurants. If John, Jane, and their three kids run a diner. That’s five thousand dollars that could go towards sustaining the business. Which means the local economy will get some life put back into it.
Basic income will also make moving less necessary. Having to move out of town puts capital above organic relationships. Which is unhealthy, and it doesn’t help that many jobs have been sent overseas. Joblessness leads to drug dependency, because it helps them forget. Having some sort of income coming in will improve their outlook on life.
Automation will not completely kill off human run businesses. A niche market for small businesses, and workers co-operatives will form. The Mondragon Corporation is a co-operative, that’s been around since 1956. So, it’s an effective model for a business to emulate. The workers in this niche market would be paid well. So, automation isn’t the end of the world. Self-employment, and artistic development would have a golden era.
It’d create an environment that favors artists, writers, and the self-employed. The starving artist will be a thing of the past. The questionable content produced by the gatekeepers would be challenged. You’d never have to serve a boss again.
Support independent media!
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