Fascism may be resurging, but so is socialism. Yet what would a genuine post-scarcity, egalitarian, democratic, communist society look like? The author thinks he knows, offering tantalizing if evanescent glimpses that tweak the imagination.
Despite a laudable positive outlook on the future, Bastani’s “Fully Automated Luxury Communism” lacks an in-depth exploration of capitalism and technological development.
The Volkswagen plant would boost UAW's flagging membership, way down because of plant closings and automation. It represented more than 1 million people at auto assembly plants in the 1980s, but only 155,000 at GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler today.
The issue of automation is bigger than the ILWU-PMA contract,” said Herrera, “it’s about the community, the economy and ultimately the future of the middle class.”
Despite huge financial losses, widespread worker anger and global strikes, investors continue to pour money into two ride-hailing companies that have never turned a profit. Because, as the magical thinking goes, soon Uber and Lyft won’t need drivers.
One group who won’t benefit much from Uber’s IPO: its drivers, who numbered 3.9 million at the end of last year. They are likely to see their pay worsen as the company strives to become more profitable while facing public shareholder pressure.
AI in daily life, war, repression, surveillance, and work; historians on Twitter
Automation often seems like a scary new problem, but it’s neither entirely scary nor entirely new.
In this interview about his latest book, David Graeber discusses the role of unions, the challenges posed by automation and “the revolt of the caring classes.”
This week I am going to talk about trade unions and automation, and why we should put the labour movements money into shaping automation for our use.
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