Social impacts of our situation...

StevieJ

bendix wrote: »

They're hardly a secret, . . .

To be honest, I had not picked up that you craved life on the social

ninky_2

lemonjelly wrote: »

Is anyone else concerned that there could be some significant social problems as exemplified by the rioting we saw in our capital city on tuesday? Is it possible there could be real problems for breakages in our social fabric?

to be serious......while people have food in their belly it will take a LOT for them to riot - especially if the consequences are seen as severe - being ostracized from the sources of power etc. take iran, there the population has been totally pushed to the limits yet the state is managing to keep a lid on all out civil disobedience (for now), because people fear for their immediate wellbeing (on the whole) more than they fear a life of misery. there is no mass starvation there and the majority by far have a roof over their head.

personally i think the most revolutionary path available to the majority is to refuse to reproduce. in the current system for the rich to maintain their wealth they require a poor underclass. fail to provide this and i think we would soon see massive social changes

lostinrates

ninky wrote: »

personally i think the most revolutionary path available to the majority is to refuse to reproduce. in the current system for the rich to maintain their wealth they require a poor underclass. fail to provide this and i think we would soon see massive social changes

I'm not disagreeing with you, but, perhaps with the underslass bit (I think o the underclass as non-workers in this country). If our taxes were lower (and less needed for social responsibility -health education included )we'd feel bloody richer!

dopester

I was searching job vacancies for you-know-who. Saw some reasonably well-paid vacancies for residential electricity and gas meter readers. A day later I read a news article where in Sweden they are trialling the tech where a meter reader just has to walk past a home and the meter communicates with his handheld device remotely to record the reading. That leads to increased efficiency and fewer jobs.

That process has been going on for decades. It is coming more into focus now the easy-credit boom economy has ended, with businesses shedding jobs which were only sustainable under previous boom conditions, and because of advances in technology.

There are new industries emerging with good levels of pay, but increasingly it seems restricted to those who possess higher levels of brain-power.

Fewer well-paid jobs for those who are not particularly academically talented. A world of overcapacity for many types of jobs.

Then there are calls for the unemployed and those on benefits into work, even if it's cleaning the streets. Where in previous decades and recent years, many might have been able to find a decent paid basic job - it is much tougher now.

The same goes for many people who've previously earned well, now finding markets tougher for their skill-sets. Talented people in their own way but fewer opportunities. It is bleak they should all be expected to cut grass in exchange for JSA.. until perhaps tech leaps again and smart-robot-cutters take those jobs as well. Mix is global overcapacity in many sectors and a whole range of interconnected variables.

There are many others who also are talented in their own way, in different sectors, who increasingly face income challenges due to this discontinuation we're rapidly approaching. Over at HPC there are many Info Tech big earners who are now whining about their pay and prospects.

We're approaching some sort of very serious discontinuation which needs solutions.

Framps

dopester wrote: »

I was searching job vacancies for you-know-who. Saw some reasonably well-paid vacancies for residential electricity and gas meter readers.

I wouldn't want Gordon Brown reading my meter that's for sure... can't he just go and do the usual after-dinner speech circuit!?!

Davesnave

dopester wrote: »

That process has been going on for decades. It is coming more into focus now the easy-credit boom economy has ended, with businesses shedding jobs which were only sustainable under previous boom conditions, and because of advances in technology.

There are new industries emerging with good levels of pay, but increasingly it seems restricted to those who possess higher levels of brain-power.

Fewer well-paid jobs for those who are not particularly academically talented. A world of overcapacity for many types of jobs.

This is one reason why I refuse to use auto checkouts and petrol pumps. The other reason is that they reduce social interaction. Yes, I know putting goods manually through a checkout isn't the height of 'service,' but the technicos seem hell-bent on reducing human contact and maximising the amount the customer has to do for him/herself.

I never fell for that: 'In the future, robots will do all this stuff' speil that we heard so much of in school during the mid C20th. I used to look at the n'er-do-wells sitting in the back row and think: "Nah, we'll still need to keep street-sweeping and similar jobs for those guys to do."

Somewhere along the way, however, someone else has decided that it's just easier to hand out money than find them work to match their capabilities, let alone stretch them.

A_fiend_for_life

Davesnave wrote: »

This is one reason why I refuse to use auto checkouts and petrol pumps. The other reason is that they reduce social interaction.

I quite agree with avoiding automation.

Davesnave wrote: »

Somewhere along the way, however, someone else has decided that it's just easier to hand out money than find them work to match their capabilities, let alone stretch them.

They can still do these jobs they just have to be unemployed for a year before they are put through the revolving door of New Deal. I wonder what jobs they will find for former banking staff.

ninky_2

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you, but, perhaps with the underslass bit (I think o the underclass as non-workers in this country). If our taxes were lower (and less needed for social responsibility -health education included )we'd feel bloody richer!

you're right lir. i meant the lower class (in the financial renumeration for work sense). of course benefits that allow people not to work and effectively pay them to breed don't really benefit the wealthy (other than when those benefits - e.g. housing benefit - go directly to the rich).

ninky_2

dopester wrote: »

I was searching job vacancies for you-know-who. Saw some reasonably well-paid vacancies for residential electricity and gas meter readers. A day later I read a news article where in Sweden they are trialling the tech where a meter reader just has to walk past a home and the meter communicates with his handheld device remotely to record the reading. That leads to increased efficiency and fewer jobs.

That process has been going on for decades. It is coming more into focus now the easy-credit boom economy has ended, with businesses shedding jobs which were only sustainable under previous boom conditions, and because of advances in technology.

There are new industries emerging with good levels of pay, but increasingly it seems restricted to those who possess higher levels of brain-power.

Fewer well-paid jobs for those who are not particularly academically talented. A world of overcapacity for many types of jobs.

Then there are calls for the unemployed and those on benefits into work, even if it's cleaning the streets. Where in previous decades and recent years, many might have been able to find a decent paid basic job - it is much tougher now.

The same goes for many people who've previously earned well, now finding markets tougher for their skill-sets. Talented people in their own way but fewer opportunities. It is bleak they should all be expected to cut grass in exchange for JSA.. until perhaps tech leaps again and smart-robot-cutters take those jobs as well. Mix is global overcapacity in many sectors and a whole range of interconnected variables.

There are many others who also are talented in their own way, in different sectors, who increasingly face income challenges due to this discontinuation we're rapidly approaching. Over at HPC there are many Info Tech big earners who are now whining about their pay and prospects.

We're approaching some sort of very serious discontinuation which needs solutions.

i disagree. good electricians are in big demand. they could easily earn more than a typical journalist. the latter is likely to be more academically qualified. one big problem is the myth in the middle classes that a university degree (ANY university degree) will lead to better pay. other than in a recession, construction industries can be a lot better paying for most. in particular, humanities subjects are quite unlikely on their own to lead to a well paying job unless you are very driven or have a mummy and daddy to help you get employment.

StevieJ

Davesnave wrote: »

This is one reason why I refuse to use auto checkouts and petrol pumps. The other reason is that they reduce social interaction. Yes, I know putting goods manually through a checkout isn't the height of 'service,' but the technicos seem hell-bent on reducing human contact and maximising the amount the customer has to do for him/herself.

.

I think t'internet is doing more damage than auto tills :eek: