Cheap Labor is Dead -- And maybe our hopes too.

[flacaltenn]

What has Uncle Flacaltenn been trying to tell you since joining USMB? That the only way to
protect America's standard of labor is to make "cheap labor irrelevant?" That what the American economy needed to do was to bring the 21st manufacturing model into existence with robotics, artificial intelligience, materials and bioscience.. Think I was just
bloviating?

Foxconn to employ 1 million robots in 3 years - Shenzhen Post

Foxconn Technology Group held a hip-hop party at the headquarter in Longhua Shenzhen last Friday night, on which Chairman Terry Gou disclosed, Foxconn is making efforts to increase its robot workforce on production line to replace non-technical workers. Foxconn currently has 10000 robots and plans to increase the number to 30000 next year. The company also announced it plans to have one million robots in three years.

The robots that have been put into operation on the production line is “Foxconn Shenzhen No. 1” that is independently developed by the company in 2006.

“On the Foxconn’s flow lines, many simple and repeated works, such as repeated clicks of one button, used to be done by workers. Now these works are all done by robots with high efficiency and controllability,” an insider of Foxconn said.

Foxconn currently has nearly 1.2 million employees, of which over 1 million are from the mainland.

One million robots -- 1.2Mill employees -- you do the math.. Not cheap OVERSEAS robots -- the article says -- but intelligient ones. Meaning that all the experience they have with
manufacturing will be inserted into the robots brains.. What were the technologies we needed to pursue? Robotics, artificial intelligience, materials and bioscience? We're gonna lose our only chance to survive economically if we don't ACT NOW!!!!!

Think the Central Politburo is gonna prohibit FoxConn from implementing their evil plan in order to protect CHINESE workers? Think that once they develop the 21st manufacturing skills and processes that AMERICAN workers are gonna be relevent at all?

We were warned.. It is happening.. And we are arguing about the rich and the Tea Party..
And the left won't even get to nag them about labor organizing or other economic Imperialism dogma.

We're doomed if we don't wake up and start training and clearing the decks for this to happen HERE FIRST..

 

[Oddball]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

 

[flacaltenn]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

No in fact -- the shift is simply AWAY from unskilled labor and towards SKILLED labor. Because even a thousand robots doing the same thing need mentoring and babysitting.

The reward for the country that leads the world in NEW manufacturing paradigms will be jobs at ALL levels of skill except the distribution won't be as pyramid like as it is now..

 

[HenryBHough]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

No in fact -- the shift is simply AWAY from unskilled labor and towards SKILLED labor. Because even a thousand robots doing the same thing need mentoring and babysitting.

The reward for the country that leads the world in NEW manufacturing paradigms will be jobs at ALL levels of skill except the distribution won't be as pyramid like as it is now..

Sadly, this country is producing no technically skilled labour. Only semi-robotic Democrat voters indoctrinated by fraudulent Liberal Arts colleges selling what they falsely sell as "education".

 

[Oddball]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

No in fact -- the shift is simply AWAY from unskilled labor and towards SKILLED labor. Because even a thousand robots doing the same thing need mentoring and babysitting.

The reward for the country that leads the world in NEW manufacturing paradigms will be jobs at ALL levels of skill except the distribution won't be as pyramid like as it is now..

But that's been the story of automation since day one.

Used to be that over half of Americans were involved in farming, now it's somewhere around 3% and we've never produced more food.

 

[flacaltenn]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

No in fact -- the shift is simply AWAY from unskilled labor and towards SKILLED labor. Because even a thousand robots doing the same thing need mentoring and babysitting.

The reward for the country that leads the world in NEW manufacturing paradigms will be jobs at ALL levels of skill except the distribution won't be as pyramid like as it is now..

But that's been the story of automation since day one.

Used to be that over half of Americans were involved in farming, now it's somewhere around 3% and we've never produced more food.

We may have less FARMERS, but we have smarter farmers. (In the sense of what they NEED to know to survive).. But with less farmers came more jobs in farm equipment, servicing, supplies, biosciences, chemicals, processing.. The concept of co-ops developed and essentially a different labor structure that STILLs employs a respectable amount of folk.

The Chinese realize the same inevitability. And they don't want US to implement a new manufacturing system that undercuts their primary strength in cheap labor..

Foreign Cheap labor is no excuse to allow the US standard of labor and living to decline..

 

[uscitizen]

The USA has millions of political robots now.

 

[flacaltenn]

Are the robots designing, building and servicing themselves yet?

No in fact -- the shift is simply AWAY from unskilled labor and towards SKILLED labor. Because even a thousand robots doing the same thing need mentoring and babysitting.

The reward for the country that leads the world in NEW manufacturing paradigms will be jobs at ALL levels of skill except the distribution won't be as pyramid like as it is now..

Sadly, this country is producing no technically skilled labour. Only semi-robotic Democrat voters indoctrinated by fraudulent Liberal Arts colleges selling what they falsely sell as "education".

Henry:

One reform required is to push the teacher's unions out of the way and allow Virtual Education to take off. There is no reason in world why your last 2 years of High School and first 4 years of college shouldn't be individually tailored and self-paced ON-LINE instruction.. Many states are already fighting this battle. Your concern about QUALITY and COSTS would radically diminish. In fact, with quality material on-line, and laboratory facilities available in every metro area, you should be able to get a BS degree for under $10K/year while living at home. On-line instruction could feature MENTORING by the top folks in each field, not a tenured professor looking for someone to take his lectures.

The final years of high school could be tracked for co-op work studies, technical school, or apprenticeships as well as allowing kids to pursue purely academic tracks. Imagine music biz students having one day a week with Paul McCartney as a guest lecturer. Or Steve Jobs doing a section on defining products that sell.

Washington needs to get the hell out of the way.. Fire the GREEN jobs czar and find a JOBS czar who understands how to target the largest sectors of employment.

Get those foreign profits BACK in the US by offering a lower rate for R&D investment with those funds. No skin off the Treasury's back to do that.

And make certain that EVERY critter elected to Congress prefers R&D to subsidizing crap already designed and made. End the mindless subsidies and convert a fraction of that to "innovation subsidies". Rewards even for acheiving certain product goals..

The rest of it will come naturally. We CAN be manufacturing stuff in this country again. The Chinese don't want us to have the opportunity to figure that out. THey figure we are paralyzed arguing with each other about the garage sale of what's left in America.. And they are right...

 

[ShackledNation]

Ultimately, anything that increases efficiency and production will be good for everyone. Because these robots will be cheaper than workers (which they must be or their use makes no sense), all the saved resources will be free to be invested and spent in other areas of the economy, allowing for more growth in other sectors. Automation is a win-win.

 

[Mr Natural]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

 

[ShackledNation]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

 

[Sallow]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

History?

Read up on the French Revolution.

Let em eat cake!

 

[Mr Natural]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

Why?

What becomes of those who are not cut out to be lawyers or doctors or engineers or teachers or technicians or any other occupation tnhat might require an advanced skill set?

 

[ShackledNation]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

History?

Read up on the French Revolution.

Let em eat cake!

History has proven that the adoption of factories and automation has led to massive prosperity.

Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake" referring to peasants in need of bread. The peasants complained they had no bread, so she said "let them eat cake" if they have no bread. It had nothing to do with no need for unskilled labor. It was an arrogant comment made by government that was clueless. The french revolution had nothing to do with automation and a decline in the need for unskilled labor, it had to do with overthrowing the French estate system. It was a revolution of the third estate against the upper estates.

 

[Mr Natural]

Why?

History?

Read up on the French Revolution.

Let em eat cake!

History has proven that the adoption of factories and automation has led to massive prosperity.

Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake" referring to peasants in need of bread. The peasants complained they had no bread, so she said "let them eat cake" if they have no bread. It had nothing to do with no need for unskilled labor. It was an arrogant comment made by government that was clueless. The french revolution had nothing to do with automation and a decline in the need for unskilled labor, it had to do with overthrowing the French estate system. It was a revolution of the third estate against the upper estates.

Did history take into account the effects of a global economy and a supply of cheap foreign labor?

 

[Sallow]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

Why?

What becomes of those who are not cut out to be lawyers or doctors or engineers or teachers or technicians or any other occupation tnhat might require an advanced skill set?

Khmer Rouge?

Or Piracy.

So many choices.

 

[flacaltenn]

"A shitstorm of Biblical proportions"...

Think back to the agri-sector.. Only 3% are actually farmers today.. But what jobs have been CREATED by the "automation" of agriculture. Many jobs at ALL levels in bioscience, ag machinery, chemistry, and processing of product. In addition, entire niche markets have been created like organic and local farming. Those farmers DO have to know more than their predecessors. But they are now supported by a myriad of co-ops, supply chain, agri-consultants, ect..

What did it take to become a "web designer" when THAT was the currrent employment bubble? Certainly not an advanced degree. A couple years of training and some talent. It was the development of the right TOOLS that allowed that to happen.. (not that microsoft knows anything about tools and productivity -- but somehow it happened.)

Today we have a pyramidal shape to the labor force in terms of required education and skills. That NEEDS to change. It's not that people are too stupid to change the shape of the labor pool. I have complete faith in that. With the right tools, anyone who can web pages can write scripts for robotic manufacturing. Those who can't WRITE the scripts -- can test them. Or collect quality data or do maintenance/sales. OR -- deliver and produce the raw materials for the line..

It's humorous to notice how skeptical the political left is about the American labor force rising to this challenge.. It's not just USMB -- I've noticed the same line-up for the years I've been pounding on this topic. I think that maybe it goes back to the victimhood dealy -- where "some people" (not them!!) are just too stupid to exist without their elite guidance.. I believe that with the right rules and incentives, you could take most burger flippers and make them into chemical engineers or "robot programmers".


The same thing with this inevitable 21st century paradigm that the Chinese realize will make their "cheap labor" advantage irrelevent. They will beat us to it --- if we let let them..

 

[flacaltenn]

History?

Read up on the French Revolution.

Let em eat cake!

History has proven that the adoption of factories and automation has led to massive prosperity.

Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake" referring to peasants in need of bread. The peasants complained they had no bread, so she said "let them eat cake" if they have no bread. It had nothing to do with no need for unskilled labor. It was an arrogant comment made by government that was clueless. The french revolution had nothing to do with automation and a decline in the need for unskilled labor, it had to do with overthrowing the French estate system. It was a revolution of the third estate against the upper estates.

Did history take into account the effects of a global economy and a supply of cheap foreign labor?

That's the POINT MrCleanOne... Forget cheap labor. It's irrelevent in your lifetime. It's 20th century thinking.. Whether you like or not -- man is gonna adopt the most efficient, most accurate and least expensive methods of manufacturing. Start thinking about "social justice" in terms of what humans do when they DON'T have to sit at mind-numbing, boring, unrewarding jobs for the majority of their adult lives..

 

[ShackledNation]

A growing population with less need for unskilled and semi skilled labor is a shit storm of Biblical proportion waiting to happen.

Why?

Why?

What becomes of those who are not cut out to be lawyers or doctors or engineers or teachers or technicians or any other occupation tnhat might require an advanced skill set?

The division of labor extends, and they go into new sectors of production, offering previously inconceivable goods and services. This is what has happened throughout history. Why didn't mechanization in American agriculture cause permanent unemployment? Because, these workers were soaked up into the increasing industrialization of the United States (even though many of these jobs were also automated). Also keep in mind computers are limited in what they can complete and do.

The assumption is that if machines largely, if not completely, replace the human workforce, humans will have little to no income. But if such is the case, who will purchase any machine-produced stuff, if humans have little to no income? The likelihood of a large, if not complete, machine workforce seems highly unlikely because few to no human consumers results in little to no profits for machinery owners.

If machines manufactured everything, prices would drop to the floor. People could afford to work less. Such is the reason why child labor is no longer necessary to support a family. Real wages increased because of the massive expansion of production, so children left the workforce.

The goal of production is consumption, not employment. If the goal of production was employment, not consumption, then a construction site manager should order construction workers to use spoons, not shovels, to create jobs. Ultimately, the goal is to work less and keep the same or higher standards of living. That is what automation allows. If robots did everything and no one had to lift a hand to do any work- we'd be in a sort of paradise.

 

[Mr Natural]

"A shitstorm of Biblical proportions"...

Think back to the agri-sector.. Only 3% are actually farmers today.. But what jobs have been CREATED by the "automation" of agriculture. Many jobs at ALL levels in bioscience, ag machinery, chemistry, and processing of product. In addition, entire niche markets have been created like organic and local farming. Those farmers DO have to know more than their predecessors. But they are now supported by a myriad of co-ops, supply chain, agri-consultants, ect..

What did it take to become a "web designer" when THAT was the currrent employment bubble? Certainly not an advanced degree. A couple years of training and some talent. It was the development of the right TOOLS that allowed that to happen.. (not that microsoft knows anything about tools and productivity -- but somehow it happened.)

Today we have a pyramidal shape to the labor force in terms of required education and skills. That NEEDS to change. It's not that people are too stupid to change the shape of the labor pool. I have complete faith in that. With the right tools, anyone who can web pages can write scripts for robotic manufacturing. Those who can't WRITE the scripts -- can test them. Or collect quality data or do maintenance/sales. OR -- deliver and produce the raw materials for the line..

It's humorous to notice how skeptical the political left is about the American labor force rising to this challenge.. It's not just USMB -- I've noticed the same line-up for the years I've been pounding on this topic. I think that maybe it goes back to the victimhood dealy -- where "some people" (not them!!) are just too stupid to exist without their elite guidance.. I believe that with the right rules and incentives, you could take most burger flippers and make them into chemical engineers or "robot programmers".


The same thing with this inevitable 21st century paradigm that the Chinese realize will make their "cheap labor" advantage irrelevent. They will beat us to it --- if we let let them..

And those jobs you mention (web designer, for example) can all be done overseas for a fraction of what it would cost to do them here.