tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6598831864333990375.post5619488499203617639..comments2023-05-08T04:01:34.561-08:00Comments on Students Who Enjoy Economic Thinking: Outsourcing and the Coercive Nature of the MarketAdam Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15257124483756325652noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6598831864333990375.post-66363542761015441202011-11-06T18:04:59.990-09:002011-11-06T18:04:59.990-09:00Jon,
Your post is correct:
As for your sympathy I...Jon,<br /><br />Your post is correct:<br />As for your sympathy I ask you, is there a "divine right of stagnation"? <br />I now relate to you a story told by author Ayn Rand: Once on a plane trip, I became engaged in conversation with an executive of a labor union. He began to decry the "disaster" of automation, asserting that increasing it would lead to thousands of workers being permanently unemployed as a result of new machines and that "something ought to be done about it." I answered that this was a myth that had been exploded many times; that the introduction of new machines invariably resulted in increasing the demand for labor as well as in raising the general standard of living; that this was demonstrable theoretically and observable historically. I remarked that automation increased the demand for skilled labor relative to unskilled labor, and that doubtless may workers would need to learn new skills. "But" he asked indignantly, "what about the workers who don't want to learn new skills? Why should they have trouble?" <br />This means that the ambition, the farsightedness, the drive to do better and still better, the living energy of creative men are to be throttled and suppress-for the sake of mean who have "thought enough" and "learned enough" and do not wish to be concerned with the future nor with the bothersome question of what their jobs depend on.<br /><br />In short, when someone tells you they don't want to see their job get outsourced they are saying two things: <br />1. I learned my skill when I was in my early 20s.<br />2. I don't want to learn anymore because I did my thinking 30 years ago and that was enough.<br />What would that mean for the progress of society if we acknowledged that as a logical argument? So, no, there is no right of stagnation and the transition is a painful one but very necessary.Zach Woodburyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02440762009290118717noreply@blogger.com