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Article #160

Re: Follow-up to "The End of Canadians in Space?"

#160
From: Paul Hounsell
Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 00:00
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In article <3piads$1la@kocrsv08.delcoelect.com>, c2xrib@kocrsv01.delcoelect.com 
says...
[...]
>Yes, but today and for the foreseeable future we need more than "two guys
>in a garage" for the computer industry. We *need* all those farmers.
>and we *need* all the people to build cars. *Some* of them can be replaced
>by mechanization. But I ask you, "Why aren't they replaced right now?

	Because the design of cars right now is inefficient, I can easily
sketch out a design which could be totally produced by machines and over
a few years it would increase profits. The wiring harness in cars is
a minor system that is totally designed wrong. It is a patchwork design
built up from a flawed beginning. Humans are best when the work is
disorganized.

>The answer, It costs *more* to mechanize these jobs than it costs to
>have people doing them. The reason we don't have elevator operators all
>over is because human beings are valuable and they are better used some
>place else.

	How many welders are left on the assembly line? Answer not many.
In France I have seen a factory that builds television sets with only
ONE person to oversee the whole operation. Don't forget government has to
take into account the social consequences of firing thousands of people.
You may not care about them but they can cause enormous problems if they
do not have work. The industrial world could easily get by with 20% of 
the farmers there are now. If cars were designed to be built by machines
then they (cars) could be built much cheaper then they are now with
human labour. They are not design that way because it would mean those of
people who are now earning a living and in some cases a good living would
have nothing (assuming the anti-welfare crowd get their way about 
eliminating welfare). Those or any other group of people are not going 
to die of starvation quietly in some corner as the anti-welfare crowd 
assumes and there is not, and will not be, jobs for those who work with 
their hands rather than their heads.

	Our (industrial) society is in trouble because it is very quickly
becoming cheaper to do things with machines than it is with people. This
is now and increasing leading to long term or even permanment unemployment.
What do you do with these people? 
	We have many inefficiencies in society which could be corrected but
won't be because of the social consequences. If you don't believe me then
look at the farm subsidies or continuing fishing in the depleted Alantic.
These are kept going because the social cost is not something the government
or industry is willing to pay. Pick almost any industrial and you could 
eliminate at least half the workers and saving money IF you are willing
to design that industry to do the job with less workers. But what is
society going to be like if you have 50% unemployment and no fall back 
source of income?

[...]

	There are other cost besides dollars and cents.

	Later, I hope
	Paul

-- 
=======================================================================
 Paul Hounsell                      |disclaimer: 
 Joensuu University Language Center |   Of course I have opinions, I am 
 Joensuu Finland                    |   just not responsible for them
 hounsell@cc.joensuu.fi             |   and neither is anybody else!
=======================================================================
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From: hounsell@cc.joensuu.fi (Paul Hounsell)
Subject: Re: Follow-up to "The End of Canadians in Space?"
Date: 1995/05/20
Message-ID: <3plc5f$42g@cc.joensuu.fi>
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