You know, what intrigues me is the similarity to the way the East
European communist regimes collapsed.
Somewhere in East Germany or Poland one person said to another;
"You know I am not a communist and I wish them all to hell".
The other person said ,"No I am not a communist either".

That idea spread like wildfire aqnd in no time at all the east European
communist regimes were gone !

Now one US election candidate says "Political correctness is nonsense"
and the whole world says, "YES !" "I am going to be politically incorrect
and to hell with them and if they don't like it, tough tities !"

Malcolm is right. Robotics will soon replace many of our jobs and few will earn a living to buy the products these robots make.In all reality this makes many of us in the eyes of our elite 0.001% redundant. They no longer need us.

Even if Trump puts a 35% tariff on all imports,robotics will soon eliminate these jobs. So do we have even bigger Govts that tax more to pay people to consume and not work ? We all need to have this conversation and find a way for people to have a free meaningful existence with being crushed by big Govt.

There seems to be a truism that globalisation is ending.
The cause I suspect is complex.
The rising manufacturing costs in Asia, in particular China.
The increasing use of numerically controlled machines.
The increased cost of international container freight.
Financial difficulties of shipping companies.
See the Korean bankrupt shipping company.
The unreliability of just in time supply due to shipping co finance.
Increased automation in a wider range of industries.
Not a complete list I presume.

However where should Australia look for a market ?
Our main big opportunity might be in agriculture.
We have big farms, so automation of many functions looks good.
Some techniques have been demonstrated, such as driverless tractor ploughing.
Significant progress here would improve our farmers profit and
kickstart a new manufacturing industry.
There must be many areas where we have such a natural advantage.

Must view. Donald Trump's view on the corrupt New World Order.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYozWHBIf8g

gen X gent

That is so true. Unless neoliberal capitalism can find a way to reverse its relentless destruction of secure, paid employment in the pursuit of global profits that only benefit the well off, then a universal basic income is the only means of preventing a slide into mass entrenched destitution and its inevitable fascist anarchy.

How wonderful if a universal basic income could allow the working classes to finally do all the things that have historically been the self-righteous preserve of the rich - voluntary community service, creative pursuits, spiritual fulfillment - instead of spending their lives in crippling debt and living for the next payday. Call me utopian, but how can that not be a good thing?

Hi Killarney,

Paid for by whom ? Fascist neoliberal capitalism ?

Capitalism rolls on, there's no part of it that feels obliged to do anything about "relentless destruction of secure, paid employment". In fact, some firm or other is bound to take advantage of whatever situation arises.

An article in yesterday's Australian detailed how firms are moving from low-wage, low- and medium-skilled, workforces to robotics, as (inevitably) the cost of Chinese etc.labour increases dramatically (at around 15 % p.a.). All other firms in the same field would have to adopt robots to keep up. And thereafter, nowhere, will any firms go back to a large low-wage, low-skill workforce. Every step 'forward' is irreversible. That's the capitalist dynamic, an impersonal machine rolling on and over working people, picking out the bits with the best returns and scrapping the rest.

I think I read yesterday that manufacturing jobs in Australia make up only 5 % of employment. So goodbye to any prattle about a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Joe