Commentary: Rise of the (fast food) robots
fortune.com
Five million people are employed in the fast food industry in the U.S. alone, but their tasks are monotonous and easily automated.

This is the problem anti-work was meant to address: forcing companies to replace human labor with machines and convert long hours of work into free time for all of us. But we have fallen down on the job.

Now the capitalists are trying to turn their so-called labor shortage into a new reason to add to already abysmally high permanent unemployment created by the pandemic, using the excuse that they cannot find workers to fill jobs.

  • poVoq
    32·
    2 years ago

    deleted by creator

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆M
      3·
      3 years ago

      I completely agree that there is no problem with automation, and the problem is squarely with capitalism. In fact, the fact that automation is feared shows just how perverse this system is. In a sane society, we would celebrate the fact that we can reduce necessary work, and give people free time to spend the way that they want.

      It’s also worth noting that this problem regularly occurs already without any need for automation. Companies want to reduce their operating costs leading to wages being constantly eroded. People spending increasingly larger portions of their income on necessities leads to drop in consumption resulting in a crisis of overproduction. Such crashes happen pretty regularly, with the latest one still unfolding.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆M
          3·
          3 years ago

          Of course, there tend to be many factors involved in practice. Another interesting aspect is that top capitalists tend to be the winner during each crash. Any people and companies that need recurring income to operate end up becoming insolvent, and this allows those with real capital to buy them up on the cheap. Every economic crash is basically a Black Friday for billionaires. And sure enough we’ve seen huge wealth transfers to the top occur during past three crashes. Wealth is increasingly being concentrated at the top and it’s leading to the whole system becoming increasingly unstable.

    • JehuOP
      1·
      3 years ago

      There is no historical evidence that automation has ever led to long term structural unemployment, so at most this is a short term issue.

      How do you propose we start to change that in this community of antiworkers.

        • JehuOP
          17·
          3 years ago

          So, if you are not antiwork, why are you here? There are a lot of place you people who worship “meaningful” slavery can go. Instead, you decide to bring your filth in this community which clearly states its ANTI-work?

            • JehuOP
              13·
              3 years ago

              I sorry. There is no room for people who want to be their own slavemaster or for people who want “meaningful” slavery and me. If there is room for people like you here, then there is no room for me. If I was satisfied with people who want an understanding and kind slavemaster, there is a group on Reddit with 1.3 million members that entertains that idea.

              I don’t and never will. Tell me that this group is like that one and I will leave. No problem.

                • JehuOP
                  11·
                  3 years ago

                  They can read. And I assume that at some point they will replace point 1. with complete abolition of wage slavery. Otherwise, what is the point of this group?