modernization
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Technology and recession are cutting into blue collar jobs
The National Bureau of Economic Research just published a paper that confirms what you might have been thinking for a long time now: recession and technology have been putting people out of work. Since we've yet to design a self-aware robot or AI that can do anything, machines have mostly been taking over routine jobs that entail repetitive tasks, like factory work and sales. Sure, humans are perfectly capable of doing those, but the recession has been forcing companies to downsize and delegate those tasks to computers and machineries instead. Those most affected by this shift are the young and less educated -- high school graduates, for one, are the first in line for unemployment. Men are also more in danger of being replaced by machines than women, who tend to climb up from blue-collar jobs to higher-paying ones over time.
iPad comes knocking on House of Representatives' door
It's oftentimes hard to gauge the proliferation of electronic devices into everyday life while looking at them from our little bubble of early adopter enthusiasm. A much better vantage point for these things can be provided from the arms of government, among the most change-resistant places on any planet, and American legislators are letting us know that tablets, not the children, are our future. Texas Representative Henry Cuellar recently took the House of Representatives floor with an iPad in tow, which broke with the chamber's etiquette if not its rules. He's not alone, however, in hoping that the House dispenses with its Omega Man-style prejudice against electronics and permits their widespread use by Representatives. If nothing else, distributing bills of law electronically should make a nice dent in the "multimillion" dollar budget currently set aside annually for printing. Let's make it happen, guys.
