Three or four?
I'm wondering if I should add a fourth Horseperson to my existing Three Horsepersons of the Modern Apocalypse. All of them work together to kill the poor and enrich the Chosen.

Existing three:

(1) Open borders / free trade / outsourcing.

(2) The "Climate Change" crime.

(3) Die-Versity and the underlying belief that All Humans Are Identical Passive Machines.

The EU implements these Horsepersons most ferociously, often combining two or three for supercharged destruction. Current example: the loss of Britain's last steel plant because of Chinese competition. EU forced this destruction of British citizens and skills through Free Trade, and helped it along by using Carbon Credits to subsidize Chinese cheap steel.

= = = = =

I'm trying to figure out whether automation and robots belong in the list.

It's not clear yet whether robots are really meant to replace all human work. So far the attempts to replace drivers and waitresses and soldiers have failed. Research in AI and robotics has been active for 60 years, but still hasn't jumped into the next level of intelligence. We have lots of precise drills, lathes, assemblers, etc. None of them are "smarter" than the Jacquard Loom. The 3D printer is a Jacquard Loom. Nothing more.

Outsourcing is a big step backward from automation. Carolina textile mills and Pittsburgh steel mills used Jacquard/CNC level automation for the most repetitive and precise processes. When the elites moved those industries to Bangladesh and China, the automation level jumped back by at least a century.

What's the obvious endpoint of all the AI research? Providing services like agriculture and maintenance to the elites so they can finish killing the non-elites. Terraforming terra.

Big problem: the current rate of genocide in poor countries, plus attrition by contraception in advanced countries, is going to eliminate the Negative Externalities before robots are ready for all important jobs.

Either the elites don't know what they're doing, or they have something else in mind. Former condition is impossible. Latter condition must be true. But what's the something else?

First guess: Robots serve the same purpose as immigrants. Even though they aren't going to be successful, the threat of replacement enables employers to lower wages and impose slavery. This doesn't fix the Big Problem, so it's probably wrong or at least incomplete.

Second guess: Total obliteration isn't the goal. The elites enjoy torture more than death. Reducing an entire ethnic group to terminal despair and chaos and alcohol is the fun part. After that, it doesn't really matter if the ethnic group goes ahead and dies. In fact it's better to leave a small ragged remnant as a drive-thru museum and petting zoo for the elite. Tomahawks and textile mills become harmless exhibits. (cf Huxley)

Labels: skill-estate

  ¶ 2:39 AM