Ahhhhh, what a bummer at the end of the year.
The mighty buck and its influence come to bear at the EMD plant in London, Ontario, Canada.
I would have thought it was not so much the almighty buck and its influence coming to bear… as the less than almighty buck struggling to stay relevant to China after having already exported most of the jobs from NA.
Screwing the workers is nothing new.
Ever since the powers that be let the bad guys (who caused the GFC) off the hook, the death warrant was signed for our current system of Laissez Faire economics.
Mainland Europe has sort of got it right by finally realising that the only real solution is to tax the movement of money with a financial transactions tax. Also known as a Tobin Tax. Unfortunately those that would be most affected by the imposition of such are a tax (the money markets aka know as institutionally legalised gamblers) are still in power and have the say in our Western Democracies. No wonder the Brits squealed. They make the most money from shifting money so they would have had to pay the most tax.
The real bad guys, i.e the ratings agencies, never paid for their sins of blatantly telling lies to promote the junk bonds. In fact they got rewarded by the public purse.
What a system, Privatised profits and Socialised losses. Nice work if you can get it. Joe average Tax payer simply cannot win.
Strange how the two biggest recessions were both started in Wall Street…or is it?
Greed still rules the roost there and …in every western country…
Yep. Plutocracy here we come. Just wait till they perfect robotic workers that can think for themselves and do tasks like delivery, robots dont have wages, poor people will be truely redundant in the economic system. All the needs of the elites will be provided by automated production that needs little or no human interaction. Once people are not needed they will be shuffled aside with no political voice. God help them once the robotic police security forces are created. Robots only do what they are programmed to do. They have no consciousness. Man I should write SciFi. My mind is a scary place 
Victor Smith said:We knew that! :lol: :lol:
.............. Man I should write SciFi. My mind is a scary place ;)
iRobot is not too far off. for anyone who follows the developments (besides the stuff they show the public), it is already getting scarey.
Well, if we can get robot factory workers that don’t need to eat, maybe we can bring model train manufacturing back to this continent.
Look on the bright side. 
So, do you really want to go back to making model train stuff in Mexico again??
Nah, I was thinking of the good ol’ USA and Canada.
I was replaced by a robot where I worked.
I really don’t agree with you on that.
I have seen them in action I must say I was and still am not impressed.
Victor Smith said:
Yep. Plutocracy here we come. Just wait till they perfect robotic workers that can think for themselves and do tasks like delivery, robots dont have wages, poor people will be truely redundant in the economic system. All the needs of the elites will be provided by automated production that needs little or no human interaction. Once people are not needed they will be shuffled aside with no political voice. God help them once the robotic police security forces are created. Robots only do what they are programmed to do. They have no consciousness. Man I should write SciFi. My mind is a scary place ;)
David my timeline is in the range of 75 to a 100 years away. Given the exponential growth of computers and robotics that seems logical before we end up with autonomous self-thinking self-fabrocating robotic forms built out of plastic and metal using advanced hydraulic motor control. The internals depicted with the robot in the first “Alien” being a good example, without the human skin though. I wont start with what I think global climate change will bring. That gets really scary 
I remember way back when it was predicted that by the year 2000 robots will be doing all the labor.
But as we all know it the most of the labor is done by oppressed people.
I’d be more worried about our modern day robots. You know? those politicians whose strings are being pulled by the corrupt business people that really run the World.
All this talk of a robotic world. Robots have to be built by man first. No build 'em…no robot…simple. 
Man needs to think a bit more…not allow himself to be led by the nose by corrupt businessmen and politicians who are in the game for their own financial gains and power despite their false claims they are there to represent YOU…
Remember…the public vote these politicos into power in the first place.
Time we all asked more questions of those that govern.
David Kapp said:David also mentions being replaced by a robot: the other frequent option is that they shut the place down. Either way you're out of a job.
I remember way back when it was predicted that by the year 2000 robots will be doing all the labor. But as we all know it the most of the labor is done by oppressed people.
Another prediction made some 30 or so years ago was the we would not have cars that were fueled by gas or diesel as the oil would have run out by the end of the 20th. century. That was wrong; motor vehicle ownership must have risen at least five fold sine that prediction was made.
TonyWalsham said:Them's ain't robots, sir. Them's zombies :P
I'd be more worried about our modern day robots. You know? those politicians whose strings are being pulled by the corrupt business people that really run the World.;)
Ross Mansell said:Remember that Germany voted in Hitler in 1933(?) in an overwhelming majority, even though his track record to that date had not been above reproach. Perhaps robots should be doing the voting, as apart from the 'swinging' voter, most simply vote the same every election.
Remember..the public vote these politicos into power in the first place. Time we all asked more questions of those that govern.
Hey look, politics!
Bob McCown said:Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks!
Hey look, politics!