How Badly Has The Internet and Technology Harmed Our Economy?

[OG Talk]

After the tech bubble bursted in the late 90's was all the quick wealth gained actually worth it?

Job destroying technology has been on my mind lately, especially when I view how it's negatively affected the middle class and industrial class in this country..

Don't get me wrong.. I love that I can stream Netflix and book my flight and hotel on my smartphone, but at what cost?

This isn’t just an issue with the Internet, it is an issue with all new technologies. The car put a lot of buggy makers and blacksmiths out of work. And of course we no longer have milk man and full service gas stations... Then, several decades later, robots “took” auto assembly line workers’ jobs. New, efficiency-enhancing technologies that make consumers’ lives better and lower costs tend to also destroy jobs. At least since the Industrial Revolution, there have always been cries about job-destroying technologies.

But it seems to have gotten a lot worse a lot quicker recently..


When I was younger an average busy week being with my parents running errands might involve going to the post office, dropping the videos back at Blockbuster, stopping by the Sam Goody for the new Luther CD, meeting with the travel agent to plan a vacation,stopping my H&R Block to see if the tax returns were ready, picking up our film from the Kodak store, going to Borders to pick up a book for a school report and making it home early enough so I could prepare for my paper route...

Now we can accomplish all of this within minutes on a hand held device...Which is convenient and efficient as hell but is also responsible for the disposal of MILLIONS of jobs that will never be replaced...


Especially when the creation and operation of the hand held device is being made in Asia for pennies on the dollar..


What exactly is the end game here for the working class? In even in academia where we see the publishing world being decimated..

Thoughts?

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

All good points, but that's just the way it is. Once technology advances, we never go back. The problem of lack of work for the everyman is something we've talked about here and on the podcast a lot. If the nation doesn't act in a comprehensive manner with government, unions, and corporations sitting down together and ironing this out via infrastructure, energy, and tech investment, tax policy that makes sense and incentivizes the creation of jobs, education and job training for the specific jobs there will be demand for, sensible use of tariffs in areas where it mades sense and alterations in trade policy or whatever is needed to be done, I don't really kn ow what to tell people other than try to find a way to get a STEM education.

I think we're seeing some progress. Manufacturing jobs are on the upswing...though I don't know much of it is still what we would call blue collar work.

 

[zerozero]

blockbuster, h&r block, sam goody? breh these places ravaged neighborhoods by outcompeting local neighborhood stores before the internet did the same thing to them. nah, the real problem is suburban design and wal-mart and chain stores that already usurped the old local economies. the internet is a small step compared to what they did

 

[Rekkapryde]

nikkaz betta start learning to code or get in industries that aint going nowhere.....

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

Have you seen Wall-e? That's our destiny.

 

[OG Talk]

blockbuster, h&r block, sam goody? breh these places ravaged neighborhoods by outcompeting local neighborhood stores before the internet did the same thing to them. nah, the real problem is suburban design and wal-mart and chain stores that already usurped the old local economies. the internet is a small step compared to what they did

Valid point.. I just used them as examples because they are names that everyone knows...In reality I used to frequent mom and pop spots that provided the same services...Im not talking about unfair competition as much discussing the fact that the need for the services NO LONGER EXIST....

I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart either... But what specific services have they made obsolete?

 

[Danie84]

I'm sorry, both has helped revenue grow and things operate sufficiently and quicker.

 

[zerozero]

Valid point.. I just used them as examples because they are names that everyone knows...In reality I used to frequent mom and pop spots that provided the same services...Im not talking about unfair competition as much discussing the fact that the need for the services NO LONGER EXIST....

they do though, you just fulfill them in a different way. you still get movies and fill out tax forms. what I'm saying is if instead of 5 guys in your neighborhood owning grocery stores, all you get is those 5 guys employed as middle managers in your local outpost of a chain supermarket, most of the transition away from the local economy is already done. The internet just puts the final nail in the coffin by using delivery and software instead of having a brick and mortar presence

there's a lot more complexity there of course, chain stores did bring a lot of benefits, but I'm talking about in this particular issue of local economic vitality they already did most of the damage