Anti Wage-Slavery Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 1651-1653

A good starting point is the simple reality that most of what we all receive as “income” far, far exceeds what anyone can claim as the result of the “work” they actually do in the here and now. Once this fully documented reality is understood, the moral case for a basic income for all becomes very different from conventional understandings. The starting point is recognition that most “income” is, in fact, a gift of the past.
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A person born at the end of the current century will have done absolutely nothing to enable or deserve this enormous gain. All of it will come to that person as a gift from the past, mainly from the accumulation of technological and scientific knowledge she receives just by being born.
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The gift of the past includes thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and technology — arithmetic, calculus, electricity, chemistry, physics, automobiles, airplanes, engines, computers, the internet, modern medicine, and on and on. In the 1950s M.I.T. economist Robert Solow demonstrated that nearly 90 percent of productivity growth up to that point in the 20th century was due to technical change (including technology, knowledge, education, and various related factors) rather than as a result of current labor and capital. He later won a Nobel Prize in Economics for the resulting contributions to the theory of economic growth.
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The gift of the past includes thousands of years of accumulated knowledge and technology — arithmetic, calculus, electricity, chemistry, physics, automobiles, airplanes, engines, computers, the internet, modern medicine, and on and on. In the 1950s M.I.T. economist Robert Solow demonstrated that nearly 90 percent of productivity growth up to that point in the 20th century was due to technical change (including technology, knowledge, education, and various related factors) rather than as a result of current labor and capital. He later won a Nobel Prize in Economics for the resulting contributions to the theory of economic growth.
Technological Inheritance and the Case for a Basic Income
Gar Alperovitz
Economic Security Project
 [emphasis JS]

 A veteran Mountie based in Courtenay is suing the RCMP, alleging she was subjected to years of sexist and racist harassment.
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The allegations come just months after the RCMP announced a record $100-million compensation package for women who were sexually harassed while working for the national force. The RCMP has come under fire for allowing a toxic work environment that has contributed to low morale and mental-health issues for members.

In May, a report by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP criticized the national police force for its failure to address widespread bullying and harassment.

Ian MacPhail, the commission’s chairman, urged the federal government to bring in civilian governance after he concluded the force’s top brass is incapable of making reforms to its dysfunctional culture.
Island officer sues RCMP, alleging harassment
Katie DeRosa / Times Colonist
August 9, 2017 10:25 PM[emphasis JS]

 This era of Industry 4.0 is being driven by the same technological advances that enable the capabilities of the smartphones in our pockets. It is a mix of low-cost and high-power computers, high-speed communication and artificial intelligence. This will produce smarter robots with better sensing and communication abilities that can adapt to different tasks, and even coordinate their work to meet demand without the input of humans.
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Again, in an ideal scenario, humans may be able to focus on doing the things that make us human, perhaps fuelled by a basic income generated from robotic work. Ultimately, it will be up to us to define whether the robotic workforce will work for us, with us, or against us.
Jeff Morgan
Thursday 20 July 2017
Does The Next Industrial Revolution spell the end of manufacturing jobs