Work without the workerLabour in the age of profit capitalismPhil Jo
Work without the worker
Labour in the age of profit capitalism
Phil Jones
Verso
We know the story. Machines are taking over the roles of workers. Artificial Intelligence allows for the removal of people in many facets of life. People who have worked in factories all their lives are now being replace by micro chips as production lines are automated. Automation is replacing jobs. It was manufacturing but it is now coming for the service Industry next.
This book details the future of some work. When I’m not getting bogged down in the language of the future of work this is a hugely informative piece of work. Zero hour contracts, mechanical Turk and micro work are all titles we must come to terms with and work to counteract against. If we sit at home buying something that is chosen for us and selected and delivered by drones where will this leave the world of work? What if we continue to pay at automatic counters? What will happen to the workers?
I find it ironic when people railing against the vaccine on social media talk of the government pushing state control into the masses. They don’t want the state to know where they are. It seems they don’t mind if it’s Facebook or Instagram or Google or Microsoft and the list goes on. Supermarkets have more data on you than the state.
Although this is slim in pages it is heavy in its dialect and is not an easy read. At times I’m wondering is it a story rather than a reflection on reality. It would seem to be true but in a world of lies that are branded as fake news it has become a struggle to just believe what we read. So I went digging and yea there is a world of underclass that are being abused, not just child Labour and slaves but humans expected to work long hours for pittance for huge companies making billions.
And we seem to allow it. Jones is trying to create a dichotomy that makes this unacceptable – this is a starting point.
