AES17 Automation under Capitalism

The concept of automation should not be unfamiliar to all of us nowadays. Lots of processes in factories and such are automated by the technologies of today. Tasks that used to be performed by humans can now be done by robots and computers. Most of the tasks done by machines nowadays are those that are repetitive, jobs that require precision, or simply things that are too dangerous for us humans. Now, logically automation is great for us, after all, with some of the work delegated to machines, it means that with all the work still being done, you can have more free time, expend less energy, but still reap the full rewards of your normal work. But unfortunately, under the current capitalistic system we’re living in, it’s not how it works at all.

While working with a capitalistic company, more productivity doesn’t mean you’ll get paid more, or that you only have to work half the hours, or that you can retire sooner. Under capitalism, automation is actually a threat to the workers, rather than a solution. For example, say your job is to create furniture for a company, let’s say that normally you can craft 3 chairs per day, and the company you worked for installed a new machine to cut the wood automatically, speeding up the process, now you can make the 3 chairs in just a couple of hours. This doesn’t mean that after you make the 3 chairs you can just relax and go home, the company you work for will now demand you make 9 chairs per day. But you still work the same long hours each day, and you might even get paid less because the skill requirement has gone down and there are more workers available to do your job. Worse yet, if a machine can do all of the work for you, the company will just fire you because they don’t have to pay the machine a living wage.

Capitalist mindset has a primal need for endless growth and expansion. Everything needs to be bigger, faster, more efficient, no matter what.  They have to keep producing more commodities, open more branches, and lower operating costs as much as possible. And in this ruthlessness the capitalists disregard the needs and wellbeing of their workers. Something as wonderful as automation is turned against the workers that they are supposed to help. We need a change in perspective, with the amazing technology available to us, humanity has the potential to be so much better than we are now, we just need to focus on the right things, and leave endless greed behind us.