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Wednesday 2 January 2019

Part 53 - The new Pirates of the 21st Century

A time to reflect.

Those of you who know, or know of me, know that I will be standing for the Australian Senate in 2019.

Why?

Because as I have become older my interests have changed and with it the reflection of my beliefs have changed as well.

Sounds a little pompous I know but it's true.

With age comes some security when your kids grow up, leave home and have their own lives.

What I found is that now I have more time to look around me as the day to day pressure of a younger age have gone and I am looking at the world differently.

I have always voted Liberal (right leaning in Australia) and looked on Labor (left) as something to be shunned.

In the 21st century though it's all changing.

I am a strong believer in government staying out of business as private industry can do it better and more efficiently but, and it's a big but, government has to be across what's happening and shape the society for the benefit of the people.

Confusing?

Not really.

Industry is there to make money, in most instances it's the beginning and end of the whole process. Unfortunately that's not always in the best interest of the society as a whole or for the individual.

For example, in Australia recently there has been a Banking Royal Commission into financial institutions and that has shown a blatant disregard for not only the consumer but for the law as well.


People have been systematically ripped off by companies who tell you everyday that they are there to help you.

That's just an example of how business can go wrong and most certainly does not apply to all businesses, there are ethical people in all industries.

So why is the 21st century going to change all this?

Businesses have to make money or they cease to be a business very quickly.

So the modern trend, forced by practically is to always look at ways of saving money to increase the bottom line. One way of doing this is to increase the automation of processes.

This is nothing new.

Henry ford use automation and introduced the production line early in the 20th century, and many auto factories today are nearly fully automated.
Computing in all industries have cut back staff and increased production in many areas, particularly in finance.

If your a little older you will remember queueing at the bank to take out money then driving around to various places to pay the bills.
Today we do all our banking and bill paying on the Internet and finding a bank branch (if you have a need to) is now difficult as many have closed.

Automation in industry is growing by the day, robotics and AI will increase production, reduce cost and employ less people to achieve these results than ever before and this trend is accelerating rapidly.

Not going to happen in my lifetime is something that many people believe but they are totally wrong.
I build robots at home for a hobby while working full time.

Automated cars are on the road now and will take over much quicker than you would think.
this in itself will change society further that you can image.

In my state of Western Australia , the road toll figures for last year show the lowest death toll for a year since records began. This all comes down to technology ranging from car safety, ABS, auto braking, adaptive cruise control, seat belts and not least, high tech traffic enforcement technology such as Radar and Lidar.

The point being that technology is an integral part of everyday life. If you don't believe me then try getting through a day without your mobile phone, tablet or Netflix.

So back to the political side of things.
We now have industry producing things faster, cheaper and with less wastage and better quality control, all done with less people.

See the irony here?
less people working means less disposable income and a smaller consumer base with a higher product output.

This is where it gets controversial.
In Australia we have unemployment benefits where people are paid an income while looking for work and have very strict processes in place to ensure that they do look for work to get them off benefits as soon as possible.

In the new age this all gets turned around and we need to look at things very differently.

In the not too distant future unemployment for many people will be the new normal and the stigma associated with it will have to disappear.

One answer is a form of Universal Basic Income  (UBI) where everyone has a guaranteed income regardless of their ability to look for work.

So this is where the old system of politics tends to break down.
We need to encourage industry to automate but we need to provide for people who are affected by it.

To do this we need to change the way that politicians think and get people into office that understand the new world and more importantly, are not afraid of adapting to change.

After all change will be the new constant.

So, this brings me back to the beginning where I am standing for the Australian Senate in 2019 for the Pirate Party Australia and to encourage the adoption of change and adapting our society to take advantage of the new potential that change brings with it.

After all history is all about adapt or die and we need to be ahead of change not playing catch up once it happens because we didn't take the time to think about it.

Like it or not we are on the cusp of the greatest change in human history and we must be prepared to adapt.

Adapt or Die, it's our choice.

@VoteCliveMyers'
#Votepirate
#BasicIncome