• PhaseFour [he/him]
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    4 years ago

    Yeah, absolutely. Capital has become increasingly less reliant on labor in the Global North. That's why Walmart can shut down any shop that unionizes. That's why the UK ended its mining operations to break the power of the miners' union.

    The struggle against automation is really important. Especially in regards to trucking. The US is a consumer economy, where commodities for the Global South are sold for profit. Trucking is one of the few places where labor has power. Trucks are needed to distribute commodities across the country. Labor in the US is even weaker once that is automated.

    • Pezevenk [he/him]
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      That’s why Walmart can shut down any shop that unionizes.

      That's not why. The shitty political climate and lack of participation is why.

      Struggle against automation is a ridiculous concept that people have been trying since the 19th century and it's never ever worked nor is it ever going to.

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
        arrow-down
        7
        ·
        4 years ago

        God, you are incredibly fucking stupid lol

        Struggle against automation is a ridiculous concept that people have been trying since the 19th century

        The ATU in my city successfully delayed the deployment of automated buses another two years. The transit company has been pushing for limited deployment of automated buses, and the union has been fighting it. The struggle against automation is the struggle for workers.

        "Struggle against capitalism is a ridiculous concept that people have been trying since the 19th century and it’s never ever worked nor is it ever going to."

        Just admit this is what you meant. Admit you are anti-labor, and fuck off.

        • anthm17 [he/him]
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          4 years ago

          It's a losing struggle. automation is progress and you can't fight it for forever.

          I'm not saying you're wrong to try I'm saying that strategically we should acknowledge automation will come and we should act accordingly.

          • PhaseFour [he/him]
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            4 years ago

            automation is progress

            What do you mean by this? How is it progressive to throw millions of people out of work?

            • anthm17 [he/him]
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              4 years ago

              Well under the current system it's just capitalism advancing and horrible, I don't disagree. I'm saying we should push for changing the system. Increasing automation should mean we demand lowered expectations of work and distribute the remaining work more evenly without cratering wages.

              and it's also progress in the sense that it's inevitable under capitalism.

              • PhaseFour [he/him]
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                4 years ago

                Increasing automation should mean we demand lowered expectations of work and distribute the remaining work more evenly without cratering wages.

                Sure. That is not what it means under capitalism. It means unemployment. Unless you are offering a concrete plan to overthrow capitalism, you should support workers' struggles against automation.

                it’s also progress in the sense that it’s inevitable under capitalism

                So is poverty, climate change, war, etc. I would not call those things "progress."

            • anthm17 [he/him]
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              4 years ago

              invented technology is going to be used though.

        • Pezevenk [he/him]
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          4 years ago

          The ATU in my city successfully delayed the deployment of automated buses another two years.

          Oh really? Wow. You pushed back labor armageddon two years lmao. Good job.

          Just admit this is what you meant. Admit you are anti-labor, and fuck off.

          Yeah, anti-labor just like, you know, Marx, famously anti labor idiot.

            • Pezevenk [he/him]
              arrow-down
              5
              ·
              4 years ago

              Is that what you think I said? Why is this about your mom suddenly? It absolutely does suck that people will lose their jobs. But in the grand scheme of things, it is the most inevitable thing in the history of inevitable things. Any victory made is a temporary, short term one. AND IT'S GOOD THAT PEOPLE MAKE TEMPORARY VICTORIES, but it isn't something you can strive for on a large scale.

                • Pezevenk [he/him]
                  arrow-down
                  3
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  4 years ago

                  There is no contradiction. Something can be good on a small scale level while being completely pointless on a grand scheme of things. It's almost always much more helpful to push for better wages and compensation etc rather than trying to block something impossible to block.

                  • PhaseFour [he/him]
                    arrow-down
                    4
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    4 years ago

                    Something can be good on a small scale level while being completely pointless on a grand scheme of things

                    What the hell does this mean?

                    You can say the same about any reform workers win: better wages, reduced hours, better working conditions. All of this is "completely pointless" if you consider that the logic of Capital necessitates the exploitation of labor and the expansion of profit.

                    The whole fucking point is to fight for workers - be that through opposing automation, securing better wages, better working conditions - and work to overthrow the logic of Capital.

                    If you are going to be like "from my theoretical understanding of the world, this all pointless" fuck off. You don't actually understand labor organizing or socialism.