
Saving obsolete jobs - imartin2k
https://medium.com/@meshedsociety/saving-obsolete-jobs-5e5dd4bff9b8#.acuoyelc4
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jimmywanger
> Considering that in aggregate, seen globally, the world in the 21st century
> is in a better shape than ever before,

This is the worldview that enabled the Brexit to happen and fueled the rise of
many populist politicians in the world.

Most people don't care about the aggregate. And globalization does hurt parts
of the economy as it benefits other parts of the economy. The parts of the
economy that it hurts are the ones that aren't doing so well, and it benefits
the already rich.

That being said, how is any part of this article going to appeal to somebody's
who's out-of-work because their job went abroad? Tell them to celebrate
because their tshirt is 10% cheaper?

~~~
rootusrootus
It seems like the upside of the '10% cheaper t-shirt' extends far beyond that.
Our modern definition of poor is considerably more civilized than it was less
than a hundred years ago.

The harsh answer to this question is that there is no reason to sugarcoat the
truth and try to appeal to someone who is out-of-work because their job got
automated out of existence (and let's be honest, that's a _lot_ more likely to
be what happened than outsourcing to some third world country). It doesn't
help them to lie about 'bringing jobs back' or some such nonsense. Tell them
their job is gone, it isn't coming back, and they should take advantage of
training opportunities to move into a field where employment is available.
Uncomfortable, yes, but anyone who promised (or is promising now) that life
would be easy or fair is lying.

~~~
burntrelish1273
Compared to 50 years ago, Americans (middle- and lower-classes) are working
longer hours and making less and less.

[http://www.lambertonlaw.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/08/Graph...](http://www.lambertonlaw.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/08/Graph.png) (chart also seen in Robert Reich's
"Inequality for All")

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/middle-class-
charts...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/middle-class-
charts_n_6507506.html)

[http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/middle-class-
cant-g...](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/middle-class-cant-get-
ahead/)

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afinlayson
For every coal worker who shops at Walmart, I say where were you when the book
shop down the street closed down because Walmart sold the book for %50 what
they could sell it for.

There's definitely a problem, where people want to keep their obsolete job,
but wants to screw anyone else who also has an obsolete job.

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cowardlydragon
Obsolescence is inevitably from a given philosphical point of view.

Capitalist economics with 3-month lead times is just one.

