alt Hacker NewsLast I checked, the tractor and plow are doing a lot more work than 3 farmers, yet we've got more jobs and grow more food.
People will find work to do, whether that means there's tens of thousands of independent contractors, whether that means people migrate into new fields, or whether that means there's tens of multi-trillion dollar companies that would've had 200k engineers each that now only have 50k each and it's basically a net nothing.
People will be fine. There might be big bumps in the road.
Doom is definitely not certain.
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> Last I checked, the tractor and plow are doing a lot more work than 3 farmers, yet we've got more jobs and grow more food.
Not sure when you checked.
In the US more food is grown for sure. For example just since 2007 it has grown from $342B to $417B, adjusted for inflation[1].
But employment has shrunk massively, from 14M in 1910 to around 3M now[2] - and 1910 was well after the introduction of tractors (plows not so much... they have been around since antiquity - are mentioned extensively in the old testament Bible for example).
[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A2000X1A020NBEA
[2] https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Farm_Labor/fl_frmw...
More jobs where? In farming? Is that why farming in the US is dying, being destroyed by corporations and farmers are now prisoners to John Deer? It’s hilarious that you chose possibly the worst counter example here…
Wow you are making a point of everything will be ok using farming ! Farming is struggling consolidated to big big players and subsidies keep it going
You get layed off and spend 2-3 years migrating to another job type what do you think g that will do to your life or family. Those starting will have a paused life those 10 fro retirement are stuffed.
America has lost over 50% of farms and farmers since 1900. Farming used to be a significant employer, and now it's not. Farming used to be a significant part of the GDP, and now it's not. Farming used to be politically significant... and not its complicated?.
If you go to the many small towns in farm country across the United States, I think the last 100 years will look a lot closer to "doom" than "bumps in the road". Same thing with Detroit when we got foreign cars. Same thing with coal country across Appalachia as we moved away from coal.
A huge source of American political tension comes from the dead industries of yester-year combined with the inability of people to transition and find new respectable work near home within a generation or two. Yes, as we get new technology the world moves on, but it's actually been extremely traumatic for many families and entire towns, for literally multiple generations.