Last night, I wrote briefly about how 3D printing technology will affect building houses. This is of some concern for people in the construction business. Here are some additional thoughts.
Two hundred years ago there was a movement in England called the Luddites. At the time, the manufacture of textiles was very labour intensive. The type of work then is similar to the weaving that we see in this picture from Gujarat.
In contrast the current textile technology replaces the work of hundreds of weavers with a single machine.
As in 1810, those displaced workers endured hardship and in 1985, tens of thousands of textile jobs were discontinued with the introduction of power looms in Gujarat. I cannot say how well the families of the workers in Gujarat have fared in the 30 years since the change in technology. I do know that the lifestyle of the descendants of the workers in England is far better.
Once again I don't know about what happened in Gujarat but from the article
the unemployed textile workers will have to line up for their food dole, and make do on the bottom line of existence.
If that was the only solution that was given, then that was inadequate. There is a saying "Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. The people most at jeopardy when an industry is being disrupted are unskilled workers. They frequently lack the education to be qualified to do anything else. I am an advocate for a universal basic income. One of the byproducts of this system is an increase of education level. If a person is assured that they have sufficient money for food to eat and a place to eat (for everyone in the family), this reduces a certain type of stress (which I have discussed in earlier posts causes a decrease in IQ by around 14 points). No person is satisfied in just getting by. If people have access to universal healthcare and universal education these three things would give societies the opportunities to leapfrog in lifestyle and technology.