April 19th, 2017: Automation
 

It’s here, It’s growing exponentially, a threat to many, making money for a few.

Remember when took my job
And I got on my knees
And begged you not to do it
Because I'd go berserk

Well you replaced me anyhow
And then the days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone
Completely out of my mind

And they're coming to take me away ha-haaa
They're coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time

http://cellar.org/2017/automation2.jpg

Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965) saw it early and warned the proletariat.

http://cellar.org/2017/automation1.jpg

Some of Artzybasheff's art after he came to the US predicts the future in a whimsical manner.

http://cellar.org/2017/automation3.jpg

Good choice of lyrics to go with those images! I actually have that song on 45 rpm vinyl single. The "B" side, for the record, is the same song. Backward.

Eventually the only job will be to personally amuse the robot owners who enjoy ordering real people around.

who's going to pay money to the robot owners if there are no jobs any more?

They don't need it. They have robots to do whatever they need. At that level, money is a game already; I'm sure they'll come up with appropriate rules between themselves. Everyone else will be scrabbling for money to spend in the company store.

People are talking about Universal Basic Income, to offset the loss of jobs to automation. This is assuming that the benevolent business community (long time standard bearers of fairness and human compassion) won't simply continue the obscene concentration of wealth, leaving everyone but a very few in wretched living conditions. You know, like ALL OF HISTORY.

I was driving to Florida from Massachusetts when that song broke. All the way down, two weeks there and all the way home it was in rapid rotation. After every commercial, station break, or anything else, I could count on it. By the time I got home I never wanted to hear that fucking song again. :rollanim:

the images look like a mashup of equal parts the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia and Modern Times.

Hey now, Jesus wouldn't have made it this way if it wasn't good.