[WalterBright]

> what the fuck do we do with all these jobless people who've been replaced?

Around 1800, 93% of labor in America worked on farms. Today we have jobs that were unimaginable in 1800.

> "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?"

Those two are actually the same thing.

[zelphirkalt]

In my opinion we seriously need to think about providing people with new perspectives, as we replace their jobs / automate them away. We need a social system, that encourages learning at every step in people's lives. A nation should have an interest in getting people back into meaningful jobs and should act according to that interest. The coal mining industry worker, who loses their job, because we no longer want to mine coal? How can we get that person a good new job? How can we make it so that that person gets the necessary qualifications?

We are still (I think in most countries around the world and at the very least where I live.) throwing away enormous amount of human potential.

[RichEO]

> Those two are actually the same thing.

How exactly are they the same thing? It seems that the savings are made by the employer here at the expense of the employee.

There’s no guarantee that the savings will be passed on as price cuts.

[WalterBright]

> There’s no guarantee that the savings will be passed on as price cuts.

Profit margins tend to be consistent across industries, meaning savings wind up as price cuts sooner or later.

(Unless the government interferes with the price setting incentives.)