Sometimes you just can't see the forest for the trees.
A very long time ago.... I was one of the few libertarians to have ever been elected to Public Office in America (At the time.) We had an issue to approve or deny, where a large grocery chain wanted to build a new store in our community (A Denver Colorado Suburb.) I'm bringing this up because there was at the time a great deal of debate, and hand wringing over this issue. Citizens were concerned that increased traffic and crime potential would overshadow any benefits that this huge new convenient and accessible store would bring.
The City Council that I belonged to hired a research firm, and tasked them with determining what (If any) the economic benefits of this store's construction might bring to the Community. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, it was the "Velocity of money" within our community that was the deciding factor. (Wait... WTF???) You see the researchers determined that if someone from a neighboring town were enticed to shop at this gleaming new store.... Every Dollar they brought in, would recirculate locally ten times on average.
The Store Employee would take that Dollar to the local 'Mom and Pop" video rental store (if you're a Millennial, we actually used to rent taped copies of movies to watch.) The Video rental store owner would use that Dollar to eat at the Mexican Food Restaurant etc and our Dollar would go round and round 10 times, benefiting a local citizen each time it changed hands.
How the "Velocity of Money" is affected by automation.
I recently learned that the Local McDonalds in my small Iowa town has installed a "Self Ordering Kiosk" in it's Dining Room. This disturbs me greatly. You see, the stories and tall tales that these machines will cause businesses to need to hire MORE employees are patently false!!! Corporations don't invest BIG money in automated machines without the promise of reduced payroll expenses!!! What isn't seen at first glance, is the effect that Automation has on the "Velocity of money"!!!
Machine workers, don't eat at the local "Mom and Pop" Mexican food Restaurant!!! The fruits of a machine's productivity, are immediately funneled up the Corporate ladder, and wind up in the company CEO's stock portfolio.
Have no illusions... Automation is inevitable!
Here's a link for you to read ( https://conexus.cberdata.org/files/MfgReality.pdf ) It'a a study done at Ball State University in Indiana (BSU) which concludes that 88% of all the good Factory Jobs lost in America have gone to Automation!!!
NOT (NOT) THOSE SLANT EYED CHINESE.... AND NOT THE DIRTY BROWN SKINNED "INVADERS" IN THESE MIGRANT CARAVANS!!!
It's coming at your World whether you (or I) like it, or not! We all resist and fear change. Automation is not merely "Change" to be feared. It will bring a fundamental upset in our World. This is GOING TO CREATE PAIN AND SUFFERING! People WILL starve, people WILL be homeless!!! They'll become angry, there will be riots in the streets, strife, civil unrest, and violence!!! Sure this is all a part of growth, and change. Some people will "Retrain". As the Baby Boomers retire, Automation is poised to take up the slack, and fill in the gaps where skilled worker shortages crop up. The retraining and retiring WILL NOT keep up with automation though!!! Some studies suggest that as many as 40% of ALL JOBS in America will be automated in the next 15 years!!! No one is sacrosanct. Even the programming of the machines will be automated.
Perhaps the greatest challenge is that Corporate Leaders are blinded - By the idea of short term financial gain, and can't see that they're destroying their customer base!
Unemployed people living in tent cities, dig through dumpsters for food. They can't even afford to go into McDonalds and "Tap tap on the screen" to order a Big Mac. This has serious repercussions for the economy as a whole.
Fortunately - There are things on the Horizon that will change EVERYTHING and create a better World for YOU!!!
With a simple Google search... You can find study after study
( https://smartasset.com/mortgage/income-needed-to-pay-rent-in-us-cities-2018 ) which conclude that it's simply becoming unaffordable to live in any apartment, or to buy a house in America. Rents and Housing Prices have skyrocketed, while incomes have been flat, or declining!!! Some studies suggest that on average an American Family spends as much as 47% of it's income on housing!
I've talked in my Steemit Blogs before about how at least 2 MILLION Americans have CHOSEN to live in a vehicle!!! They aren't "Homeless" they're "Houseless". I really do believe that this phenomenon will grow exponentially!!! My Wife and I are currently working feverishly to join this crowd. We will soon be living in an old School Bus that we're converting into an "RV".
This lifestyle is a culmination of a "Green" ecological life, minimalism (Turning one's back on the consumer culture,) taking advantage of the economic advantages some States offer over others, and living for FAR less than that 47% I mentioned above. (You also get to travel, and see some pretty cool stuff.)
So far, I've discussed automation as a Corporate Phenomenon, but "Makers" are bringing automation down to a scale that will allow YOU to use it for your own purposes. They're releasing information into the "Open Source" public domain that will soon enough allow YOU to circumvent the Corporate World!!! (Video, click arrow to view.)
The "Gig Economy" is growing, and to be sure there are horror stories about how these companies are taking advantage of their workers, but one thing is being ignored. If you are working a Gig, Temporary job.... You're free to choose another company to work for! YOU can choose your hours, how hard you work, and for which companies. Many will take advantage of this in the future.
ALL FIAT CURRENCIES COLLAPSE, AND THE US DOLLAR IS NOT (NOT) IMMUNE!!
The US Government is flat broke!!!
The "Debt per Taxpayer" box is YOUR share!!!
A lot of foreign Countries are building systems to allow them to circumvent the empirical control that the US exercises over them. The US's recent ramping up of sanctions, Tariffs, etc., as a part of this nationalistic push, will only serve to accelerate these systems being put in place in those Countries. VERY VERY soon, they will shun the US.... The Dollar's hegemony will evaporate, and it will revert to it's intrinsic value - $Zero.
YOU can "Hedge your bets" against this, by investing (Some) of what you have in Crypto - currencies, and yes... Physical Gold and Silver. Of course, if you're reading this here on Steemit, I'm preaching to the choir. You are already in possession of some Steem Backed Dollars. HODL my friends!!!
We're watching the collapse of the World's greatest empire!!!
By staying on your toes, and keeping up with alternatives to the "Conventional" methodologies in our World, you can survive and THRIVE in the coming days!!!
The problem here is that the problem has not been discussed.
Not once in this quite lengthy post, has the real problem been brought up.
The FED
The reason people cannot afford houses is because of the every increasing debt... on mortgages. House prices have skyrocketed. Not because you get more house, or the actual cost of a house has gone up. No, it is because loans have become bigger and bigger and bigger. 30 year loans? Back in my youth that was unheard of.
90% of america is owned by The US. Land just sitting there... but you can't live there.
As more people were born, the land that could be lived on was made smaller. Just to make housing prices go up.
We should be very thankful for automation.
Our problem is that we have gotten into the idea that we need to have a job so that we can afford a house.
Houses should have been paid off, completely, a century ago.
Banksters should be shot for the audacity to offer a mortgage (death note).
We should happily go back to raising our own food, with our own robot and have goods at an incredibly low price.
What we should really hate is that the kiosk at McDs is easier and more efficient than a human being for ordering. This is because that "human" was there, for the last 20 years, to enter your order into the kiosk for you.
Thanks for your insight @builderofcastles. I look at housing in a different light, because my Wife and I don't have a mortgage! We've "Owned" our house for 14 years now with no bank to pay. (Sorry the post was so long for you to read.) We STILL have to rent our home from the Gubernment, by paying rent (Massive Property tax) each year, and just had to spend a very large sum of $ to replace our heat pump. I came at the issue from this perspective.
To be sure... The Fed is a core part of the problems in America Today. I DID talk about how the Dollar will soon enough be collapsing, but figured someone here on Steemit would already know that because of the Fed, the Dollar has already lost 97% of it's value. What we should REALLY hate about McDonalds "Kiosks" (Or self checkout at WalMart,) is that customer service is flying out the Window!
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