Port People And Automation
There is currently a Port Strike (like to capitalize it like it’s a guys name. ‘Port Strike! You’re up next in the Street Fighter Tournament!’) along the Eastern seaboard. Maine to Texas. Port workers, dock workers, the guy Rocky was supposed to beat up at his job in the first movie and Cinderella Man (another dock reference) are all on strike. They are on strike for the most part, to fight automation.
‘Well how are they gonna do that? You can’t fight progress you dip chewing dock hog! Get those pants off that ship! I want to look cool for Thanksgiving!’
Whether or not they can fight progress and get a raise on on their apparently $39 an hour jobs is up to time to tell, but the thought of people going on strike to fight machines will happen across all sectors. Happened earlier with the movie and writing industry and it will keep going. ONE DAY some cashiers standing around listening to the AWFUL shrieking of a machine doing their job will go ‘Wait a minute! I could just be DOING that! Not OVERSEEING that! I’m out of here!… wait, no, raise first! Oh, machines already here… okay then I want!… you’re right I’ll get back to overseeing…’
This is why unions would try to fight this now, before automation becomes a rampant thing. Before a long shoreman goes to make a job to a guy he’s working with and it turns out to be a machine.
‘You hear the one about the Priest and the Rabbi walking into The Bunny Ranch?’
‘THIS PARTICULAR AMUSEMENT HAS NOT BEEN PROGRAMMED INTO MY DATABASE…’
‘Okay so a Priest and a Rabbi walk into The Bu…’
‘PUT SEVEN MORE CONTAINERS ON MY BACK I DON’T SLEEP EAT OR COLLECT MONEY…’
There are people out there who get mad at people in unions, or workers in general, going on strike for more money. They do not care whether or not workers get more money, they want their pants! Damn it Thanksgiving is COMING UP and if some pudgy Port pig better get their leg coverings!
‘Just automate the whole thing! A robot isn’t going to not get me my pants. Damn does ANYONE care about these pants?! From JAPAN?! I don’t care if Satan himself gets them off the ship I want ‘em!’
People have said this about the fast food industry as well. CEO’s from major companies have said that if minimum wage goes up, they’ll replace everyone with a robot. Some people go ‘good!’ as if their own industry won’t be affected. As if a robot or AI or Terminator can’t do advertising, or law, or play baseball or work at Denny’s. Even people IN TECH who make the robots that take other people’s job will ONE DAY have their own jobs taken over by their creations.
‘Wait a minute I made robots to do other peoples jobs not MY job! What in the hell is this? I said take over the dickless dock workers NOT super cool and awesome engineer guys with vests! THIS IS A TECHNOLOGICAL TRAVESTY… can I keep the vest? It charges my phone when I rotate in a… SIGH I’ll leave it at the ping pong tables…’
Seemingly the only people who would benefit from full automation are companies. Not humans. A
‘But wait! If they don’t have to pay workers anymore then the prices of things can go down!’
So many products we have now get made outside of North America because companies can pay people in other countries much less than they would have to pay people here. Are iPhones cheaper? Costs about $500 to make an iPhone. That’s not close to what it costs to buy. The manufacturing of a Jordan costs MAYBE $20. Does Nike sell them for $22? Even $30? Get that sweet sweet $10 profit? No. When workers are fully out of the way everywhere, prices for things will not drop drastically because companies are used to the money they are making. They don’t want to make LESS. They want to PAY OUT less.
‘… Okay sure cool cool but can I PLEASE just get my PANTS off of this stupid ship!?’
Yeah man calm down happy early Thanksgiving…