#rememberingfuturesurbanismsociety

[rememberingfutures]

Robert Reich: Why Work Is Turning Into a Nightmare

The new "sharing" economy is really about sharing the scraps.

I am glad to see Robert Reich comment on one of the mysterious, potential futures we might find in walking paths ahead from the current state of plutocratic capitalism we live in. We have very short attention spans. We have our hands full enough with problems in the present, so that we forget what happened yesterday, and we find it difficult to look forward and build society constructively.

In the microview, many of us are satisfied with the extended opportunities made available by infrastructure laid down by tech companies. But we shouldn't forget why we found ourselves in this position in the first place. As Robert Reich explains, if the traditional job market really offered what it should, being an Uber driver or a Taskrabbit wouldn't really be all that attractive to many people. In other words, it's likely that you only drive for Lyft or whatever because you can't find a job that is worth keeping. A lot of jobs disappeared from our economy and aren't coming back. Part-time jobs with no benefits and stagnated wages that people can't quite live off of very well have replaced them, as well as service work enabled by tech, which is a welcome relief in the face of alternatives. A lot of those jobs had become somewhat miserable in the first place because of American workplace culture, but that's another story.

In the macroview, the growth of this "sharing" economy could mean, in combination with other factors, a part of an economic transformation that most of us wouldn't welcome. As AI develops and bots can be used to automate certain kinds of work, that leaves a lot less work to do in an economy that unrealistically expects everyone to work. (A fully employed society is already impossible, so think about that next time you see a homeless beggar and you feel like telling him to "get a job".) This dystopian future is one where you have less freedom over your work, because you acquire the work as neatly-packaged tasks. You perform your tasks, perhaps as part of a more complete project which is pieced out, partially to you and partially to bots, for maximum cost-effectiveness. When what you do can be simplified enough--when there are few enough variables that a bot can take it on, then perhaps you will need to move on to another sort of task. Or maybe not. Perhaps you will be an owner of capital, or an engineer of turking systems.

It may seem ridiculous to some that I suggest sci-fi futures be taken seriously. To others, it might seem alarmist for me to reflect in writing on tomorrow's bad news. I would accuse all those people of lacking clear sight. we are living in yesterday's sci-fi future. Every week a handful of important scientific breakthroughs or discoveries is made. We live in a present where wealth inequality is a grim, life or death reality. The notion that a non-moral approach to economics is the key to greater things prevails. People are commodified. Democracy is dysfunctional; plutocracy is principal. Where do we go, from here?

[rememberingfutures]

Educational Metrics Give Us Information We Ignore

The Miami Herald recently compared the SAT scores of Floridian test takers to the national average. They reported that Florida's test scores are below the national average, though the state has seen some improvement in test scores over the past several years.

While the headline used for the article, "Florida SAT scores lag U.S. averages", expresses an unfavorable idea, the article actually takes the time to make positive points. Printed in the article, for example, is an assurance that Hispanic students in Florida are outperforming their counterparts in other states, and that the pool of students taking the test in Florida is growing, which is generally a good sign that more students are pursuing educational opportunities.

The statement that concerned me most was, however, this: "While Florida Hispanic students beat national averages in all three portions of the test, Florida’s black students did so in only one portion, reading, and trail the national average for black students in both math and writing."

Black students all over the nation are victims of discrimination and racism at many levels. While it isn't an ideal situation in any state, my personal experiences in this California life have led me to consider that Florida offers more racism and hostility to the black community (than California, and perhaps other states), even with its large immigrant population that one would think would be more sympathetic to their situation and history.

In any case, it's distressing that the Education Commissioner wasn't quoted as saying anything about black students being below the national average. The Miami Herald didn't have much to say about the situation, either. That, right there, is a problem. This is something that I can recall observing frequently in my earlier life as a Floridian. Repairing the disadvantages of the black community in Florida is not something I've ever heard any local leaders talk about.

I stress the importance of giving attention to this in Florida because it is where I've lived most of my life and have most of my experience. I'm writing about it because it's what I know. Surely, the rest of the country needs to give more attention to this matter, as well. In Florida, I think it is worse because of my people. The Cuban Americans have a very large population in Florida, and our interests have become the focus of local politics, leaving blacks in Florida at a particular disadvantage.

I can't pretend to have the answers to this complex problem, but I have confidence that I'm reasoning correctly with the information I have. I hope that one day, education is truly taken seriously by our political leaders, and that we can truly live up to being the "land of the free" by offering quality education to the youth who grow up at a disadvantage, both by improving the quality of the education system directly, and by improving the quality of life of these youth.

[rememberingfutures]

A Better World Citizen

I'm not a fan of consumerism. I've discovered that making what I need often comes with tremendous benefits over buying what I need. The process is fun, educational, saves money, and is often less harmful to myself, others, and the environment. I've been surprised with results. Some homemade products have been much more effective than their manufactured alternatives.

So why did we become a society that prefers complex and expensive manufactured products over simple and beneficial alternatives, some of which have been in use for decades and centuries? I guess it's just part of growing up--for our civilization, that is. Our technology matures faster than our ability to handle it responsibly. Our philosophies have changed over time. Perhaps the industrial revolutions of the past few centuries left us with hubris. Accustomed to having more resources than we could use, we gave little thought to the massive increases in resource consumption that technology had brought us. We were conquering nature, and defeating her disasters. Illnesses and plagues, weather, distance, topography: less and less of a problem as we felled more and more limits to our potential.

As our knowledge has caught up, we've discovered that in many aspects our approach has been wrong. Not all of us are convinced yet. Many still want to cling to the old ways, but as time passes, more and more evidence emerges, making the case that we must make major changes in the grand workings of our society.

Our lifestyles need to change as well, though many people might believe that it isn't worth the effort. Change is coming, and if I want to be comfortable and give my descendants a future in this world, I need to change the way I think, and the way I live. The luxuries that the American lifestyle is known for can't be sustained. Either we transform our society, or it collapses. Either way, I need to make personal changes if I want to be ready. Making furniture out of reclaimed materials and making my own laundry detergent won't save the world or anything, but it makes me a better world citizen, and hopefully enables me to pass that on to others.