Gadgets just make things more Complicated

You are probably familiar with the Microsoft Office Labs vision of what 2020 might be like. Its in the video below if you haven't seen it before.


However I want to point out something of interest...

The gadgets don't actually make your life easier. They just make everything more complicated and time-consuming. Yes, they look kewl and interesting, but most of the time (99% or so) people are just wasting time on such things and not actually "building" anything.

Now in the video they do, eventually, design a rooftop garden for buildings in the future. Which is a nice idea, absolutely. But did they really need to use all those gadgets to design such a thing?

Nope. They could have done it a lot faster the "old fashioned way" and not wasted all that time playing with their toys.

Which begs the question... will so much of our society in the future be spent twiddling with gadgets and designing stuff (that rarely gets built) or will be actually putting our skills to use and BUILDING things.

I chalk it up to wasted "manpower". Take Britain for example, which has just over 2.5 million unemployed people right now (not counting me, I'm a professional writer).

That is 2.5 million people who could be building things. Building homes. Bridges. Roads. Parks. Rooftop gardens. Greenhouses. Windmills. Solar panels. Building things that would make Britain even more amazing than it already is.

Now what would it cost to employ 2.5 million people and give them a decent salary? Say 50,000£ per year (about $80,000 USD). Well it would cost £125 billion per year.

Now I admit 50,000£ is a lot. The average annual wage in the UK is actually 36,000£. So maybe we don't need to spend that much.

£90 billion would cover it and give those 2.5 million an "average job" building things that make the UK a greater place.

Well... let me put it this way.

The UK already spends £190 billion on "social protection services" every year. Another £119 billion on health care. £88 billion on education. £38 billion on defense. And so forth.

The pie chart on the right is from the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

So an extra £90 billion to give every unemployed person in the UK a job building stuff isn't actually that big of a deal. It is, ahem, controversial and a wild idea, but it would solve a host of problems simultaneously.

#1. It would pretty much eradicate unemployment and homelessness. As long as people are willing to work, they will automatically have a job waiting for them.

#2. Crime/theft would drop dramatically. People who have jobs have little reason to steal things if they are making a decent wage.

#3. Foreign investors would flock to the UK because our economy would be booming. Once the initial stages pass the private sector would start hiring more people and the amount of money being used for "building things" would drop dramatically over time.

#4. The UK government would get most of their investment back in income taxes anyway. Not just the newly employed people, but from everyone else as well. Why? Because people would be spending more, which means other companies will be making more, which means they too would be paying more in income taxes.

#5. More people doing manual labour means more people who are exercising as part of their daily routine. This would boost the overall health of the country. Which means health care costs would decline a bit.

HOWEVER THERE IS A BIG FLAW IN MY IDEA

And it is that many people simply refuse to do manual labour.

Pick up a shovel and do work with my hands? Pff!

I think this is because many British people now have this sense of entitlement, that they don't "need" to work. Myself included. I'm a writer / former teacher. I've never worked a manual labour job beyond when I did some gardening during high school.

But if someone offered me a job in a greenhouse tending plants, I would do it. I think that would be an awesome job. (I love greenhouses.)

The same thing is true of Canada and the USA. Nobody over there is willing to pick apples or do agricultural work. So instead they import hardworking Mexicans to do all the work instead. And its not just farming either... the food services industry is mostly Mexican and Asian people. Why? Because most white people are too proud to work in McDonalds.

White people are, frankly, lazy and feel overly-entitled. Many of them think they are too good for manual labour. They went to college or university, they got a diploma or a degree, but they cannot find work in their chosen degree because frankly how many psychologists and social studies majors does the world really need?

No. The real jobs are in manufacturing and in building / growing things. Which is why places like China, Taiwan, Japan, etc are now manufacturing superpowers compared to many other countries - because they mass produce things and their employees do it for relatively little - and they're not too proud to refuse to do the work.

Our Arrogance Will Be Our Downfall

No comments:

Post a Comment

Old Feminist Truths Posts - Back Up Copies

  • Awesome Nike Ad Promoting Female Athletes
  • Feminist Book Reviews
  • The Truth about British Female Fantasy Writers
  • Moroccan child forced to marry her rapist
  • Using Women to Sell Guns
  • Native Girl in Wisconsin singled out in Catholic S...
  • Feminist Quotes about Truth and Justice
  • Tati Kalveks, Part Deux!
  • Pretty Young Thing
  • The Truth about Aunts
  • Controversy attracts Lawsuits
  • Are White Women more Selfish?
  • The Truth about Chris Brown
  • Real Men Don't Buy Girls
  • Responses to Domestic Violence in Popular Music
  • "Love is Blind" by Eve
  • But what does this have to do with feminism???
  • Chronicling the Lies of Frank D'Angelo
  • 12 Feminist Anthems
  • The Truth about Girl Gamers
  • The Truth about Tati Kalveks
  • Crazy Stuff People Say to Feminists
  • A video worth watching: Miss Representation Traile...
  • The Truth about Fashion Models and Plus Size Model...
  • The Truth about Work Place Abuse in Adult Entertai...
  • The Truth About Hooking Up, Dating, and Doing Rela...
  • Feminism: The Sliding Scale
  • The Truth about Hijabs
  • The Truth About College Feminism
  • The Truth about Postfeminism
  • The Truth about Condoms With Teeth in South Africa...
  • System favours the few, the male
  • The Truth about Rape & Revenge
  • The Truth about Double Standards
  • Christian Feminist lives Biblically for a Year
  • The Truth About Women And Disability
  • The Truth about Rape & Sexual Assault
  • Lawsuits Schlawsuits! The Truth about Why You Can'...
  • Why Anti-Feminists should be Pro-Choice
  • The Truth about Feminist Videos on YouTube
  • Women's Unemployment in Britain
  • The Truth about Bigots
  • The Truth about Zealotry
  • How to Pick a Fight with Sexist Pigs
  • The Truth about Child Slavery in America
  • The Truth about Anti Feminist Hate Speech
  • Feminist Truths @ Facebook
  • The Truth about My Fair Lady
  • The Truth about Being Bold
  • The Truth about Persephone
  • The Truth about Bald Women
  • The Truth about Car Advertising
  • Suffragette School of Birmingham
  • The Truth about Book Writing
  • What is more important, money or justice?
  • The Truth about Conservative Feminism
  • The Truth about Vietnamese Girls
  • The Truth about Online Privacy
  • Feminist eZine set for relaunch
  • The Truth about Modern Women
  • The Truth about Working Girls
  • Toronto police officer fights Texan rapist
  • The Truth about Father's Day
  • 150 years until equal representation
  • The Truth about Being One of the Guys
  • Eff Off Hef!
  • Fawcett Society: Rape needs to be taken more serio...
  • British Women Artists during WWII
  • The Truth about Will and Kate
  • The Truth about the Night Stalker
  • The Truth about Naming a Baby
  • The Truth about getting Pregnant
  • The Truth about Frank D'Angelo - Part Three
  • The Truth about 50 Years of Coronation Street
  • The Truth about the Montreal Massacre
  • The Truth about Frank D'Angelo - Part Two
  • The Truth about Rozsika Parker
  • Feminist Bloggers Wanted
  • Suck My Ovaries
  • The Truth about Rape Trials
  • The Truth about Feminomics
  • What are YOUR feminist truths?
  • Canadian Feminists divided over Prostitution
  • The World's 100 Most Powerful Women?
  • Leslie J. Sacks' Ten Commandments
  • The Truth about Women and Gun Control
  • The Truth about Eileen Nearne, aka Agent Rose
  • The Truth about Feminism in Britain
  • 100 Posts of Feminist Truth
  • Ack! The Truth about Cathy
  • The Truth about Crisis Pregnancy Centres
  • The Truth about Frank D'Angelo
  • Media Messages that Kill
  • The Truth about Female Rites of Passage
  • Being Raped? There's an app for that
  • The Truth about the Sexual Revolution & the Pill
  • The Truth about Funding 3rd World Abortions
  • The Truth about Human Trafficker Peter Nygard
  • The Truth about Women Terrorists in Chechnya
  • Erykah Badu goes nude at JFK assassination site
  • The Truth about Female Tokenism
  • The Truth about Tiger Woods & Adultery
  • The Truth about Details
  • The Toronto Women's Bookstore in Crisis
  • The Truth about Mary Magdalene
  • The Truth about Feminism in the United States
  • Pregnant Woman Wins Court Battle
  • The Truth about Cuckolded Women
  • The Truth about Who Wears the Pants in Sudan
  • Christian woman abducts baby, beats it head agains...
  • Misogynism at the Cannes Film Festival
  • The Truth about Satellite Babies
  • We Boobed, admits Marks & Spencer
  • The Truth about Sex and Advertising
  • Prostitution: Criminalizing the Men
  • Feminist killed in Afghanistan
  • Canada's First Female Warship Commander
  • Boxing and Breast Implants
  • Ursula Andress on Osteoporosis
  • German gunman kills 11 women, 4 men
  • The Truth about Women in Conservative Islam
  • International Women's Day
  • The Truth about Affirmative Action
  • Canadian Conservatives Eroding Women's Rights
  • Messy divorces costly, bankrupting couples
  • Divorce, Custody Battles and Brainwashing the Kids...
  • Obama ends abortion-linked ban
  • Sleeping in Sports Bras
  • Religion and the Rape of Children
  • Women during Recessions
  • Women and children first!
  • Jobs for Girls and Women
  • Little League Canada loses fight with girls softba...
  • Child Support for non-biological kids?
  • George W Bush's New Contraceptive Rules
  • The Truth about Women's Work
  • Hockey player suspended over sexist comment
  • Pakistani Teen murdered and her baby tossed into c...
  • Domestic Abuse in the USA
  • Self Defense Against Rapists
  • Korean Women: Not allowed to Pregnant
  • Virginity, Chastity and Muslim Beauty Queens
  • The Truth about Botox
  • Disney Princesses, Capitalism and Feminism
  • Sometimes Women just say NO to Kids
  • Top 10 Ways Sports Illustrated Disrespects Women
  • Woman Rescues Two in House Fire
  • Lesbians Attacked in Hate Crime
  • Sarah Palin sour over election results
  • Is Gay the new Black?
  • Abortion or Single Motherhood?
  • Iron Jawed Angels
  • Women Voters Proved YES WE CAN
  • Obama is the new US President
  • Sexually Active Teens watching racy shows
  • Sarah Palin is NOT a Feminist
  • Women in Sports: Lies, Sexism & Selling Out
  • The Good Wife's Guide and Advice for Young Brides
  • Are High Heels a Detriment or a Benefit?
  • Bus driver molests boy, gets away with it
  • Black Womanhood in Art
  • Sarah Palin struggles in unwelcome spotlight on ev...
  • Saturday Night Live Parody of Sarah Palin and Hill...
  • Feminist Blabble on Facebook
  • Killing Female Babies in India
  • Open Letter to Anti-Abortionists
  • The Truth about Anti-Feminists
  • The Truth about Misogyny, from the horse's mouth.....
  • Finally the Truth about Rape Victim in Saudi Arabi...
  • Feminists = Good Lovers?
  • Jesus said...
  • Feminists Censoring Feminists
  • Feminism's stormy history with religion
  • What Women Have Done to Art
  • Men Bashing Hillary Proves We Need A Woman Preside...
  • Confronting Misogyny
  • Sexuality and Truth
  • Truth in Feminism - Book Review
  • Truth, Speech, and Ethics