Everybody needs a job? 10.15.2011

I take public transport to work every day. I take two subways and a tram to get to the office. Two methods of transportation which run on rails. There's no real traffic involved here. Just a one-way rail system from which a train cart can never deviate.

I used to sit and wonder what the hell a driver is actually doing inside his little drivers cabin at the front. Are they busy communicating with Control? Do they need to shift gears in there? Do they have to monitor all sorts of meters and gauges?

Our trams here in Rotterdam have glass cabins so you can actually see what they do in there. Let me tell you, it's nothing close to what you think a person capable of tying their shoelaces should be doing for a living…

I've looked at the "cockpit" of a tram dozens of times and it never fails to amaze me how little a driver does. Often times they sit with their legs curled up against the dashboard just fondling the joystick which controls the forward/backwards movement of the tram. The tram pulls up to a stop, they press a button and the doors locking mechanisms are activated so people can disembark. Then they press another button to disable the doors from being opened and they push the joystick forward to move on. I'm sorry, but why are we using humans to do this sort of nonsense? Humans with perfectly sound brains. Brains which are now wasted on the extremely useless task of fondling a throttle stick and pressing a few buttons.

Now, I know people who hear this would be eager to jump up and say "But these people need a job too!" and that's where the problem lies. These "jobs" are worthless and meaningless. Jobs that can be done by a computer. A computer which can do the job more efficient, faster and just down right better.

We are keeping ourselves intentionally in this technical limbo we're in. Simply because people need money to feed themselves. Money to continuously pump into this cyclical consumption cycle we force onto ourselves.

Take a step back. Look at the earth. Look at the production capacity we have. Just think of the amount of food and products we can (and do) make. Do you seriously think money has any influence on our *capability* to do anything? Money only enables a person to *buy* something. If you take money out of the system it wouldn't change anything in terms of production capabilities, human ingenuity or anything that actually matters to the survival of our race.

Look at the big picture again. Notice how much food is produced, how much food is thrown away and wasted. Why? Because the people with money buy most of the food. People without money can't so they don't get any. It's not that there's not enough food. It's just that money makes it flow in the wrong direction.

Imagine a world where the people working in Production factories are put to work, or rather play, in Think factories. Allowing them to explore and discover. How much would our world be changed if we didn't waste all our resources on producing store after store filled with 7 different brands of TV's, each line carrying at least 6 different models of TV "Just for your freedom of choice convenience!".

Why can't we wake up? Why can't we shake ourselves lose from these artificial chains we have put on ourselves? Our technological progress has enabled us for the first time ever to really care for our race in ways never before imagined, but we are held back by old habits and beliefs.

Yes, these people have gotten used to their job as a cleaner, tram driver, store clerk or what have you. But do you really think they won't find another way to be of use when these mind numbing tasks are taken over by machines? Besides, how much sickness is generated by this system of people just suffering through out their 40 hour work week? I say free these people! Free ourselves!

Posted in: Rant, Social change | Comments (3)
Patrick at 18 October, 2011
I'm not really convinced that it can be done by computers. Although I agree that the tasks are extremely limited there is a definete conscious responsibillity for the drivers of said trams...

Unfortunately computers are not able to learn all the traffic rules and can't anticipate when someone else doesn't comply with the rules.

Michael at 18 October, 2011
Are you kidding me, Pat? ;)

I'm absolutely positive a computer can do these tasks, the reason (i believe) you say they can't though, isn't because they aren't capable of performing the millions of calculations needed to predict the trajectory of a couple of cars, but it's because we don't let them.

Can you really tell me that a computer which can have countless more input sensors (instead of just a human's ears and eyes) will not be able to "see" more of it's surroundings and calculate more outcomes of a situation so it can arrive at better decisions than a human driver could?

I think you've got it backwards to be honest. Computers nowadays don't have the capabilities to do the things they are fully capable of because we actively prevent this progress. It's because we still have to employ people in dead-end jobs like this (for the sake of the monetary system), that we're not looking to the full potential of technology to set us free from these boring jobs.

Women used to say they didn't want a refrigerator because they liked the ice-man coming over every so often... I'm happy to say that that was another job which was kicked to the curb because of technological advancement ;)

adama at 30 October, 2011
In the UK we have the DLR, the Docklands Light Rail which is driverless. Often there is a driver present, though, because they discovered when they first opened the system that people don'ty like trains without drivers (duh!).

They also have to run the trains *further* apart, because people got scared if they could see another train in front or behind them, which means trains have to be >3 mins apart, causing problems at rush hour (the system can run them ~60sec apart safely).

Humans suck.

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