The changing face of the middle class

Jason74

thequant wrote: »

This might sound harsh, but it does come down to the crux of how our society works. But what value do you or these children add ?

I would have thought this fairly obvious. In the case of Prudent (and all those who do work like theirs), they add value to society by making the lives and opportunities of children born into very difficult circumstances as good as they can be. In terms of the children themselves, treating them well and ensuring that they do have as much opportunity as possible isn't so much about adding value as demonstrating it.

Or to put it another way, what would be the alternative to maximising the enjoyment and opportunity in life for those with severe disabilities, and what kind of society would we be if we went down that road ?. Sometimes "value" isn't about the financial.

Graham_Devon

Generali wrote: »

Why would cheffing continue to exist if we continue down this road?

Because we would continue to want individuality.

To some extent, robots already make meals....ready meals.

That doesn't mean chef's don't have a place.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

This is coming in the next decade to a society near you.

For 100 years or more this has always been "coming in the next decade to a society near you".

It's spectacularly late in arriving, for one very simple reason....

When all the employees are robots, who will be the customers?

CLAPTON

thequant wrote: »

I have a friend who has a middle class civil service job and her friends are the most obnoxious bunch of public school !!!!! I have ever met. But it feels great knowing that I earn about 3 times the amount what they earn!

some may say there is some irony here

wotsthat

I spent some time working in a sandwich factory about 25 years ago. Hundreds of people were employed - that number has probably halved - there are now automatic filling depositors. Machines now collate and put them in the boxes etc.

Even longer ago I worked in a place that tested products. We'd book in samples by writing them down longhand and then, after the testing, we'd check results and write them down longhand too before passing to a typing pool for report generation. Guess what's happened to the typing pool and the pens and paper? Even the postman has lost out - results are now emailed in PDF format.

Another factory in the last few years has put in robotic pallet stackers - 6 jobs gone.

There will always be chefs - just less of them.

grizzly1911

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

When all the employees are robots, who will be the customers?

wotsthat wrote: »

There will always be chefs - just less of them.

Just think of the jobs maintaining, repairing and sanitising (for the those that need it) all these machines.

As wages are depressed, in real terms and we have such an influx of cheap labour the return on capital on some of these potential technological advancements must be borderline at best.

I wonder if they would dribble WD40 into your food, if you offended them, rather than some form of bodily fluid.

Think of the leisure time they will all bring and how the benefits will be shared widely - utopia.

ukcarper

I can remember watching a few TV programs back in 70s or 80s telling us how much leisure time we were going to have as everything would be automated but it's not changed that much.

wotsthat

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Just think of the jobs maintaining, repairing and sanitising (for the those that need it) all these machines.

If robots can make a sarnie I reckon other robots could manage to be able to repair and clean them.

grizzly1911 wrote: »

As wages are depressed, in real terms and we have such an influx of cheap labour the return on capital on some of these potential technological advancements must be borderline at best.

Think of the leisure time they will all bring and how the benefits will be shared wide

There's the rub.

To date we've found productive things for people to do when machines take their jobs and the cost of 'stuff' has fallen so we've become wealthier.

In my example of the entry level middle class job (entering data longhand) that job has gone. I needed A levels to get it and to retain staff there was an education program that included a funded part time degree.

Prudent

CLAPTON wrote: »

with the increase in longevity, the value of your pension has greatly increased so maybe your effective total income has gone up.

That would be lovely, however the age at which I can take my pension has moved from 60 to state pension age, so maybe that will be a loss too.

Prudent

ukcarper wrote: »

I can remember watching a few TV programs back in 70s or 80s telling us how much leisure time we were going to have as everything would be automated but it's not changed that much.

I was in secondary school in the 1980s. On Fridays the whole morning was given over to 'preparing for leisure'. The school believed we would have a much greater amount of leisure in our working lives, so we were introduced to a range of leisure activties such as horse riding, skiing (it was Abderdeenshire) and golf. Ironically as a teacher today, I work far longer hours than my teachers did. Even since I started my career in 1990 my hours have increased and I work at least 10 hours more a week than I did then. My oppotunities for leisure have diminshed over time.