General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: No cashiers, please: Futuristic supermarket opens in Mideast [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)partially obsolete by the advances of IT, and millions of jobs were lost to computers. Reality is that profits rise because IT could could do significant portions of the work incredibly faster and more competently with injection of far fewer mistakes (!), as well as without the enormous total "human" costs of human employees.
Unlike many of my angry colleagues, I never once argued that my job should be saved even though it could be done better without me. Each time, I cheerfully retrained for a new adventure in work where I was needed and could contribute value. I wouldn't have hung on some forcibly available corporate teat if I could.
The job at hand is how to provide incomes, and proper ones, to people (consumers!) as modern production produces greater and greater riches, and fewer jobs. This is a democracy, and 250,000,000 adults can and should use their power to redistribute wealth for everyone's benefit, above all to keep the nation everything depends on healthy and happy.
Subsidizing millions of elevator operator, file clerk, and horseshoing jobs in every town long after the horses are gone would not be good for us.
And the need for checkers is also going, going... I once had favorite checkers at my markets, and I do miss them and those ways, but I can find people to chat with many other places. I go to stores for the items on my shopping list. What I want from the store is good selection, good quality, good prices, and efficiency. Smiles are nice also, of course, but I won't choose a store for them.