We have an ageing population which means that as the older generations retire we have less people left in the workforce.
Combine that with the fact that most people today in Australia don't leave school until year 12 and many go on to university so we have a higher educated group entering the workforce.
Higher education and being born into an age where their parents are usually reasonably well off means that job expectations are quite high.
So, we are approaching a point where there will be less people to fill jobs and those left have high expectations and can pick and choose.
Therein lies a problem.
Who fills the low paid repetitive jobs?
A few solutions:
- Bring in cheaper foreign workers
- Outsource the jobs overseas
- Automate the jobs and keep them in Australia
Given the current world of politics, the first two choices would not go down well, so automation and keeping it in the country would be the logical choice.
OK so now we have a solution, but it pushes even bigger problems down the track.
When the baby boomers are out of the work system, they will live longer but won't live forever. Then we get the new generations becoming the majority and looking for work, but by then we have very high levels of automation.
Now what?
This is when we get the real impact where there are more people than jobs and less and less jobs being created.
This is where social systems have to change.
Being unemployed will no longer be considered as a liability but the new normal for many people, particularly those that don't have high tech capability and don't have the ability to get there.
As a responsible society we have an obligation to ensure everyone has the right to an income and can choose how they live their lives.
So, do we wait until we reach that point and tackle it then?
NO.
The time to act is now.
Government must begin to address it now while we have the time to do it properly.
If we wait, then it will become a knee jerk reaction for short term political gain .... and we all know how well that works in the real world.
So we need to act now and plan it out so it becomes a win win situation.
Any other way and we run the very real risk of becoming victims of technology.
This is the major platform I am standing on for the Australian Senate and very much want to get involved in making this work for Australia.
Your support can help.
#VotePirate - New idea for a new world
#BasicIncome - the right to choice
Important note.
The vicious attacks on
the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch yesterday are
wholeheartedly condemned
by the Pirate Party Australia.
We send our heartfelt
condolences to the victims and their families, and to the Muslim communities
of Australia and
New Zealand.
This atrocity will not
go unanswered and the Pirate Party will continue to fight to remove far right
extremists like Fraser Anning and Pauline Hanson from our Parliament.
