Re: home depot

On 12/10/05 06:30 pm HeyBub tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

I also object to DIY checkouts because they are designed to put even
more people out of work. Checkout jobs aren't something that can be
exported to India or Mexico or China, so instead we'll replace them by
machines made in India or Mexico or China.

Complaints about not enough checkers. Complaints about mechanical check-out. Has it occurred to anyone that both complaints can be eliminated by just stealing the stuff. 

Decades ago they told us that automation and computerization would
mean a greatly reduced working week,

Nobody ever said that. They said productivity would go up, not that hours would go down. 

Yes, they did say that the working week would be reduced.

but what has happened is that maybe
the average working week has declined, but with people in
"third-world" countries working well over 40 hrs a week and many of
the formerly-employed in the West working ZERO hours a week. Aren't
averages wonderful?

Sigh. Unemployment in the US, even WITH the Katrina displacements, is at or below 5% (13% in France, 10% in Germany). Productivity is up. GDP is WAY up (4+% compared to 1.1% in Germany). Tax receipts to all levels of government are through the roof.

There's another of those dangerous averages: Perhaps only 5% of Americans are unemployed, but each of the UNemployed (as distinct from the UNDERemployed, who I assume are not included in your 5% figure) is 100% unemployed -- no wage, perhaps no decent health care, and unemployment benefits (if any -- and for how long?) that leave people below the poverty line.

Perce
.

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