California considering a ban on technology. In hopes of creating huge numbers of low paying jobs?
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[i][b]Photo above [/b]- Senator Lola, who wants to ban automation, is a UCLA graduate. Who'd have guessed? [/i] Has this ever happened to you? You're going into the supermarket, and a local politician with a folding table accosts you and asks “what party are you a member of?” There's no right answer to avoid a moronic harangue. I've tried them all, Including “Luddite”. This invariably produces the look of a stunned chicken on the part of the candidate. My theory is that if someone never heard about the Luddite movement, they're too dumb to be deciding my future. Although I did get a great answer a few years ago. Ms. Candidate looked me right in the eye, and haughtily lectured “Voting for them is like throwing your vote away.” Indeed . . .
Let's quickly define “Luddites”, then move on to California's latest job creation scheme. Luddites were a violent mob 200 years ago in England, who went around smashing factory equipment. They dreamed of preserving low paying cottage industry work like spinning wool and knitting sweaters by hand. For real.
California Bill 1446 teleports the Luddite movement into the 21st century. NO MORE STORE SELF CHECKOUTS! Because these machines are taking jobs from people who have no other skills, and no way to survive. See link below.
Personally, I try to avoid self-checkouts. But to be honest, I also try to avoid certain cashiers. You can tell at a glance the full employment economy has scooped up people who are mean spirited, moronic, and possibly flying high at that very moment. If it came to a choice between fidgeting with a barcode reader and subjecting myself to someone with hugely dilated pupils, breathing heavily and shouting angrily, I go with the barcode reader most of the time.
I'm old enough to remember President Obama. He did two things that stick in my mind. First, he went on TV to tell people to switch banks if they didn't like their fees and interest rates. Fair enough. I worked for a bank at the time, and I thought fees were outrageous too. THEN Obama went on TV to muse about banning ATMS. To bring back "high paying bank teller jobs". He actually used those exact words. Um okay . . . but how will I get cash while I'm travelling out the state or at 11pm, President Obama?
I don't think Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas actually did any constituent canvassing before drafting her “Ban the Machines” bill. Most voters probably agree that McJobs are not what we want for our kids. I have higher aspirations for my daughter than ringing up Doritos, flipping Whoppers, or picking cotton. But Senator Lola should at least get voter buy in, before ambushing us with BS like this. If the public actually agrees. fine. But if this is the future a candidate has in mind for us, please announce it BEFORE the election, not spring it on us after you're sworn in.
I'm just sayin' . . .
~New California Bill Would Eliminate or Severely Curtail Self-Checkout, In Hopes of Reducing Shoplifting (sfist.com)~
@SusanInFlorida Of course, leaving a cart (they call them "buggies" here) in a parking space or where they can roll around is a dick move. But leaving them somewhere where they will stay put should be OK. Like the local Walmart has a bunch of raised beds with pine straw, and people will put the front wheels in those and they're not going anywhere.
@Thinkerbell One of my first jobs was bagger in a supermarket, and this was before they had those huts or corrals, so people left their carts all over the place. Customers tended to come in waves, so when it was slow, my job was to go out and collect them. This was also before those wheel locks that prevent you from taking them out of the parking lot, so people would take them home and not bother to bring them back. A contractor would periodically drive around the neighborhood to collect them, and I assume return them to the store for a fee.
I’ve seen the homeless use them for barbecuing. Build a wood file in it and either flip the back on top for grilling or retrofit parts from another cart for the grill on top. With all the holes a nice draft for a wood burning fire is created and also due to the holes the ashes fall right out not requiring cleanup. Ingenious. @LeopoldBloom @SusanInFlorida
What is wrong with human beings doing a supermarket job? A combination of self-service checkouts and humans seems ideal. They are not "non jobs" to many people. In the UK Sainsburys (second largest group) has a policy of hiring young workers with learning difficulties and older workers (who may have need of a relatively easy job as their pension entitlements have been eroded by successive conservative governments). Wages improved during the pandemic (when machines and self-service suddenly seemed less practical) and they add considerable personality and colour to an otherwise dreary commercial environment. Responsibilities have accumulated as available labour has diminished and staff rarely just do cashier duties.
The risk is that all supermarket groups choose to adopt the latest miney saving technology at the same time irrespective of customer preferences, thus bypassing the market and denying genuine customer choice . .
If such a job was suitable for my daughter and made her happy, I would be delighted. I would never dream of impising my ambitions and aspirations on my kids.
In order for a democracy to function, the voters must control the means of communication and the means of production. Too simple for liars, too good to your enemies, democracy died because the US can't afford it
@Roundandroundwego How would an Athenian-style democracy work in a country of a third of a billion people? Most people don't have the patience or interest to study the issues in the required depth to make an informed decision.
I don't support a one-world government. I was pointing out that classical communism requires one.
@Patriot96 i don't want the government handing out jobs either. i want them to remove barriers to entrepreneurs, while keeping us safe from pollution and crime.
