Jobs jobs jobs

The popular refrain, from our leaders, is that we must focus on creating jobs. As soon as everyone--coast to coast and border to border-- has a good job, the sky will clear, birds will sing, and all will be right with the world. I have my doubts.

Here's my theory, typically off-kilter: there is no longer enough work to go around. We're still thinking in early twentieth century terms while the world has quietly slipped into a whole new dimension. Technology has taken over every facet of life, at least in this country. Anything worth doing is worth automating because (1) robots do it faster (2) and better (3) and don't belong to unions.

Many of us have missed the quiet take-over of our daily work by the millions of  unobtrusive little mechanical people, simply because the damn things don't look anything like people! We all expected robots to be like the tin man in the Wizard of Oz: two arms, two legs, and a funnel for a hat. That hasn't happened, and I doubt it ever will. Patterning a robot after a human being is a losing proposition because, while humans are good at many things they are usually not great at one single thing. Our robots are the opposite; designed and taught (or, more accurately, programmed) to perform a single task over and over, never faltering nor complaining about the boredom. Mere mortals can't do that without extensive surgical remodeling of their brains, which is illegal in all but two states.

I visited Japan, about twenty years ago, as part of a Sister City boondoggle. We were given a tour of the Panasonic factory, where various electronic products were assembled. Our guide pointed out the metal grounding plates on the floor where technicians sat and worked. About half of those people had been replaced with quietly humming robots of assorted sizes and shapes. The stated goal was to get rid of the rest of the humans as quickly as possible. I realized that I was seeing the handwriting on the wall, in big red capital letters. Doing the same thing over and over again is the road to burnout for humans but it's duck soup for Robbie, the tin man.

Robots, of course, have been around for many years, things like steam shovels and elevators, but they have generally relied on a human brain to make them operate. The big change came when intellect was added to the machines, in the form of computer control. There is a computer, and operating software, embedded in everything from your clock radio to your car keys. Those computers are little lumps of silicon -- the software makes them work. And software evolves, builds upon itself, learns, changes and improves, with a little help from human beings of course. Our robots are growing up and taking over, much like our kids. Only they won't be moving back home someday.

It's all good.