Tag: conservative

Letter — Limited government approach to income inequality

One idea, proposed by conservative economist Milton Friedman. is to provide a minimum income for the poor. Such a program would be more efficient since it would eliminate many welfare programs requiring fewer government workers to run.

Besides the poor, we need to address the problem of disappearing jobs. Globalization has been a factor where some have been displaced by competing workers that pay lower wages as compared to our country. Another factor eliminating jobs has been automation reducing the number of workers required. One example has been the coal industry. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to destroy millions of […]

Letter — Limited government approach to income inequality

One idea, proposed by conservative economist Milton Friedman. is to provide a minimum income for the poor. Such a program would be more efficient since it would eliminate many welfare programs requiring fewer government workers to run.

Besides the poor, we need to address the problem of disappearing jobs. Globalization has been a factor where some have been displaced by competing workers that pay lower wages as compared to our country. Another factor eliminating jobs has been automation reducing the number of workers required. One example has been the coal industry. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to destroy millions of […]

‘The UK is a long way behind in terms of productivity’: Mike Wilson, BARA

Chairman of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA) Mike Wilson discusses the ‘underperforming’ state of the UK’s manufacturing robot industry. He says without an increased commitment to automation, it will find itself with bigger problems on its plate than Brexit.

“The UK is a long way behind in terms of productivity,” says Mike Wilson of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA). “The increased use of robotics is an important element of addressing that shortfall.” Wilson is the chairman of BARA, an organisation that represents “the supply chain for robot and automation products into the UK”. Its membership consists […]

We Must Restore the Dignity of Work. All Work.

We Must Restore the Dignity of Work. All Work.

A McDonald’s employee prepares an order. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) The value and dignity of work—any work—used to be one of the core principles of conservative and Republican thinking. It drove the welfare reform push in the 1990s, and the support for the Earned Income Tax Credit in the present day. It is why people on the right work so hard to remove barriers to work like occupational licensing or required union membership so that opportunity does not remain out of reach for the poorer and more unfortunate. Work, to the mind of the conservative, possesses an intrinsic […]

Maybe the robot will do you a favor and snatch your job

Maybe the robot will do you a favor and snatch your job

Recently, Amazon floated the idea that it would be fully automated in a decade: Not all of the 125,000 people who work at Amazon warehouses have to worry about losing their jobs to robots — not for 10 years or so, anyways.

On Tuesday, Scott Anderson, director of Amazon Robotics Fulfillment, led reporters on a tour of the company’s Baltimore warehouse during which he said it would be “at least 10 years” before Amazon could entirely automate the fulfillment process. When we read further into the story, of course, we find it’s not so simple. Robots are especially bad […]

Globalism v Nationalism: Do we protect the worker or the product?

Globalism v Nationalism: Do we protect the worker or the product?

With globalised wealth where it is, I’m unsure the route of globalism we’re taking cannot continue. With that being said, returning the power totally back to the worker is not the solution either.

Trade has always existed; it’s done through every possible format and method, by water, land or air. It’s part of how we grow and prosper.

The first globalising influences were the European empires, which stretched their trade empires from one side of the planet to the other. Through these, the empires were able to start influencing markets and economic conditions from the other side of the […]

Tax code should not make hiring robots more affordable than people

Tax code should not make hiring robots more affordable than people

1of9Toyota’s basketball robot Cue 3 demonstrates Monday, April 1, 2019 at a gymnasium in Fuchu, Tokyo. The 207-centimeter (six-foot-10) -tall machine made five of eight three-pointer shots in a demonstration in a Tokyo suburb Monday, a ratio its engineers say is worse than usual. Toyota Motor Corp.’s robot, called Cue 3, computes as a three-dimensional image where the basket is, using sensors on its torso, and adjusts motors inside its arm and knees to give the shot the right angle and propulsion for a swish.(AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)Photo: Yuri Kageyama, STF / Associated Press Walmart and Kroger are deploying robots […]

Editorial: Too many can’t afford to buy healthy food

It has been known for some time that certain foods are linked to ailments such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a variety of cancers. Red meat, processed meat and products high in saturated fat such as cream top the list.

With this in mind, Health Canada has issued a new Food Guide, which places more emphasis on fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

The problem is that half of the working-class families in our country say they either cannot afford such a diet or would find it a struggle. And their concern is understandable.The price of vegetables is forecast to […]

The Good Life After Work

The Good Life After Work

Almost all “robots are coming” stories follow a tried-and-true pattern. “Shop Direct puts 2,000 UK jobs at risk,” screams a typical headline. Then, quoting from authoritative reports from prestigious institutes and think tanks, the article in question usually alarms audiences with extravagant estimates of “jobs at risk” – that is, percentages of workers whose livelihoods are threatened by high-tech automation. To quote another representative example: “A new report suggests that the marriage of [artificial intelligence] and robotics could replace so many jobs that the era of mass employment could come to an end.”

Sometimes, this bleak outlook is […]

The Supposedly Looming Spectre of Automation in the Service Industries

Automation is an interesting outlier within the modern canon of political topics of discussion. Views aren’t split down the usual left-right divide; instead, opinions tend to diverge along free market–protectionist lines. Fellow travelers on the same side of the political aisle, like conservatives Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson, can be divided on automation. When asked on Shapiro’s Sunday Special whether he would restrict automated trucks to save truckers’ jobs, Carlson said he would, “in a second.” Carlson clearly cares about working-class people and doesn’t want to see their employment under threat.

But it isn’t. At least, not in the customer […]