Too simplistic? Quite possibly, nevertheless the conclusions from some new research out of Oxford arefood for thought (my emphasis added):
A new research paper from the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment provides the first evidence that automation played a major role in voters concerns in the 2016 US Presidential Election.
The paper, Political Machinery: Automation Anxiety and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, authored by Dr Carl Benedikt Frey, Dr Thor Berger and Dr Chinchih Chen, all of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, looked at whether groups in the labour market that have lost out to automation were more likely to opt for radical political change. Pitching automation against a host of alternative explanations including workers exposure to globalization, immigration and manufacturing decline the research shows that electoral districts with a greater exposure to automation were substantially more likely to support Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election.
The authors found that a 5 percentage points increase in the share of jobs in which workers have lost to automation in the past is associated with an increase in the share voting for Donald Trump in 2016 by roughly 10 percentage points.
Dr Frey, Oxford Martin Citi Fellow and Co-Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, said the data provided the first hard evidence of the impact of automation on political outcomes.
Our study suggests that automation has been the real cause of voters concern, he said. The prime victims of recent technological change want anything but the status quo. The populist rebellion in America, Europe, and elsewhere, has many causes, but workers losing out to technology is seemingly the main reason.
Its hardly the first time that I have asked this question, but what will be the political consequences as the process of technologically-driven job destruction moves further and further up the food chain, shattering the expectations of those who never thought they would be on the wrong side of creative destruction?
Speaking of which, theres this from The New Republic (again, my emphasis added):
The waning of the yuppies particular brand of ostentatious upward mobility, and the rise of its aesthetically scruffier hipster cousins, demonstrate the ongoing erosion of what Barbara and John Ehrenreich have called the professional-managerial class. The Ehrenreichs coined the term in 1977 to refer to the constellation of college-educated, white-collar, and creative workers (doctors, lawyers, journalists, artists, academics, and so forth) that hovered somewhere between the ruling class and the traditional working class. More than 30 years later, in their 2013 essay Death of a Yuppie Dream, the Ehrenreichs reported that the once-ascendant PMC was on its last legs, fractured by decades of technological advances, job outsourcing, and attacks on labor. Increasingly, its members have either peeled off to join a tier of exorbitantly compensated CEOs and supermanagers or suffered the collapse of their chosen professions, from the decline of newspaper journalism to the elimination of tenured academic jobs.
In this bleak new landscape, strivers havent disappearedthey have simply reoriented themselves around a new set of values that bolster their class position in less noticeable ways.
And they will probably continue to do, but whether they do so in a way that fits into Americas traditional free market(ish) model is an entirely different matter.
But its only 2017: Much of the article merely discusses changes in consumer choice:
This new elite is typified by the brownstone-dweller traipsing through Whole Foods with a yoga mat peeping from the top of her NPR tote.
But, it wont stop there, particularly as squeezed salaries and eroded job securitymake that trip to Whole Foods ever more daunting.
See the original post:
Automation and the Voters - National Review
- The Automation Conference - December 9th, 2016 [December 9th, 2016]
- The Best Home Automation Systems of 2016 | Top Ten Reviews - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- Compact Automation - Actuators, Hydraulic Cylinders, Linear ... - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- What is Home Automation? | Home Automation Systems - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- Job Seekers - Automation Personnel Services - December 24th, 2016 [December 24th, 2016]
- iAutomation - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Beyond Automation - hbr.org - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Automation The Car Company Tycoon Game on Steam - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Automation - Wikipedia - December 25th, 2016 [December 25th, 2016]
- Build automation - Wikipedia - December 26th, 2016 [December 26th, 2016]
- Home - Enerwave Home Automation - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Automation | Technologies | Systems | Integrator ... - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Automation - DESHAZO - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Custom Automation & Machine Design | Automation GT - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- IT Automation - BMC - December 27th, 2016 [December 27th, 2016]
- Werner Electric | Automation - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automationtechies | Automation Engineering Recruiting - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automation - Mazak Corporation - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Automation | Food Engineering - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- Test Automation Services for Development of Regression ... - January 28th, 2017 [January 28th, 2017]
- UI Automation Overview - msdn.microsoft.com - February 5th, 2017 [February 5th, 2017]
- The Evolution of Automation and What It Means for the Integration Industry - Commercial Integrator - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Automation, robots could replace 250000 public sector workers in the next 15 years - Computer Business Review - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- New telecom transformation goals require service automation - TechTarget - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Automation expected to displace insurance underwriters, real estate brokers - CIO Dive - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- The Perks Of Automation And The Risks: Why To Think Twice About Getting Into That Driverless Uber - Forbes - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Voices Reinventing enterprise finance by overhauling AP automation - Accounting Today - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- DFLabs Launches the First Security Automation and Orchestration Platform based Upon Supervised Active Intelligence - Business Wire (press release) - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- VIDEO: Going Big on Automation in a Small Footprint Facility - ENGINEERING.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Building a better model of human-automation interaction - Phys.org - Phys.Org - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Cruise Automation Is Testing an App For Hailing Self-Driving Cars - Fortune - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- AlixPartners examines automation in manufacturing and logistics management - Logistics Management - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Women need to look out for each other in automated workplaces - The Guardian - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Automation vs. the H-1B visa program: Which matters to employees? - TechTarget - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Automation is the unavoidable future of the economy - The Daily Cougar - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Speeders beware: Legislation would allow automation crackdown ... - SFGate - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Robots versus bureaucrats: Why public sector work is ripe for automation - Financial Post - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Rockwell Automation Surged 10% in January as Growth Picked Up Steam - Motley Fool - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Global Medical Automation Market to Reach Approximately $75.6 Billion by 2025 - By End User, Application ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Automation 'key' to advancing Thai production - The Nation - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- WorkWave Releases New Lead Management And Marketing ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- 'We employ insane levels of automation' Kris Canekeratne - Times of India - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Most people are optimistic about workplace automation, social data suggests - ZDNet - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Yes, there's a job creation argument for automation and technology ... - The Hill (blog) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Technobabble: Automation and the modern worker - CIO Dive - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Improving Behavior Through Automation of Vehicle Systems - School Transportation News (blog) - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Automation Nightmare: Philosopher Warns We Are Creating a World Without Consciousness - Big Think - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Why Don't We See More Automation in Federal Networks? - Nextgov - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Automation can revitalize the US workforce - Fox News - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Readers Write (Feb. 12): The moose population; jobs, start-ups and automation; diversity in the funny pages - Minneapolis Star Tribune - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Automation can replace bureaucrats and save taxpayers money - Hot Air - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- TigerStop hopes to ride automation to new heights - The Columbian - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Your Most Valuable Resource is Time Get More of it through Automation - CMS Critic (press release) (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- What Does Device Automation Mean for Users? - Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry (blog) - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- How To Beat Automation And Not Lose Your Job - Forbes - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- Logistics firm gets automation boost - The Straits Times - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- PP Control & Automation launch new video to kick-start exciting plans for 2017 - Manufacturer.com - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Automation's Impace on Data Center Monitoring Alerts - The Data Center Journal - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Hollysys Automation Technologies Reports Unaudited Financial Results for the First Half Year and the Second Quarter ... - PR Newswire (press release) - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- 4 Automation Hacks to Save You Money and Manpower - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Istuary Innovation Group and Bluewrist Partner to Bring Robotics and Automation into China's Manufacturing Sector - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Redwood Software Named a Strong Performer in Independent Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report - Yahoo Finance - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Boeing ramps up automation, innovation as it readies 737MAX | The ... - The Seattle Times - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Robots and AI are coming for our jobs, but can augmentation save us from automation? - Digital Trends - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- The Impact of Bad Data in Automation: Why Quality Management is Critical - R & D Magazine - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Automation: Are We Empowering Human Interaction Or Displacing It? - Business 2 Community - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Life in the Fast LaneAutomation with Software-Defined Intelligence - InfoWorld - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Luddite Lefty Journalists Apparently Think Workplace Automation is Conservatives' Fault [VIDEO] - Daily Caller - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Will automation define the future of network technology? - TechTarget - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Editorial: Improving automation - The Motorship - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- TigerText Unveils Role-based Scheduling Automation, Amazon Alexa integration - HIT Consultant - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- 89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - Economic Times - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Delta veers to EV parts, automation - Bangkok Post - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Robotic process automation makes nearshore outsourcing more ... - CIO - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- The working-class job that Trump could save from automation - Washington Post - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- China must be ready for automation - Basic Income News - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Bill Gates Says Robots Should Be Taxed Like Workers - Fortune - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Trump and automation challenge India's IT industry - VentureBeat - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Both Trump and Automation Are Challenging India's IT Industry - Fortune - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- 89% people want automation at workplace: Adobe - ETCIO.com - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]