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He’s not wrong about those jobs. There’s been a skills gap in the economy for a long time and large swathes of communities have spent decades pining for jobs and industry the natural progression capitalism have made obsolete. The workforce needs modern skills, and/or cash $ https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1324896645297954816
Im not sure how people think things work. But the same way coal left and isn’t coming back, there are more industries that will experience the same. The economic system as a whole will have to evolve, or people’s skills will have to in order to be an active participant in it.
He used coding as an example here because it’s most obvious. But one of the reasons for continued “economic anxiety” is that entire communities were built on the industrial revolution’s jobs and we’re 40 years into the digital revolution.
The cultural disconnect on work and what is or isn’t deemed work has a lot to do with that and communities feeling left behind or forgotten. But it’s not slowing down. People will need new, more relevant job skills AND eventually UBI is going to be a necessity, not an option.
Also, when I say cultural disconnect, that’s not a minor throw away type of term. Entire communities have their identities and cultures built around the type of work they do. And a lot of these cities and towns have been lied to about the prospect of those jobs “coming back”
Many have spent years and I’m some cases decades grieving a way of life that isn’t coming back, and that grief and anger has been grossly exploited. They experience a “brain drain” because their brightest and smartest talents have to leave home for gainful opportunities.
So the challenge becomes making those opportunities more accessible IN those communities. There are a few roadblocks to it. One major one being the culture and resistance to supporting programs that pay for retraining.
