> Why do these people deserve protection from automation any more than all the millions of people who worked other jobs tat were eliminated by automation up to this point?

You got it!!! All those other people DO deserve protection from automation! But our society made a mistake and pushed them out. Many communities were destroyed by efficient automation and guess what, efficient automation via cars and vehicles is what caused our most immense disaster now, the climate crisis.

We made a mistake by creating so much automation. We should strive to recreate smaller communities in which more creative AND manual tasks are appreciated.

> We made a mistake by creating so much automation. We should strive to recreate smaller communities in which more creative AND manual tasks are appreciated.

Those exist?

Yes, they do. Indigineous tribes for one...which did more manual labor but also had creative outlets as well.

> We made a mistake by creating so much automation.

So you're volunteering to become a stoop-labor agricultural serf, then?

Basically, you are creating a strawman. I said too much automation. And nothing about removing automation implies going back into serfdom. If you want to actually have a debate, say something intelligent rather than a quick quip.

> I said too much automation.

Why are you the one who gets to decide how much is "too much"?

> And nothing about removing automation implies going back into serfdom.

Sure, just because essentially every society above the level of hunter-gatherers has had some kind of peasant/serf/slave doesn't mean that your utopia will.

But that's not the way to bet, my friend.

Because we don't like white collar people losing their jobs. Blue collar on the other hand deserve what's coming to them, as they didn't prepare themselves for what the future brings.

/s

learn to code.

learn to maintain HVAC

No kidding. It looks like the most secure jobs will be "the trades" since the environment these professionals work in is the most variable/least structured and thus least susceptible to automation by robotics.

My "Plan B" is becoming an electrician.

The answers may or may not have any sense depending whether or not you find something in us not worth automating at all. Is there such a thing ?

I agree with your point, but I think the honest answer to your question is that people view creative jobs as aspirational whereas the other "rote" jobs that were being automated away were ones that people would have preferred to avoid anyway.

When we're getting rid of assembly line jobs, or checkout counter staff, or data entry clerks, or any other job that we know is demeaning and boring, we can convince ourselves that the thousands/millions put out of work are an unfortunate side effect of progress. Oh sure, the loss of jobs sucks, but no one should have to do those jobs anyway, right? The next generation will be better off, surely. We're just closing the door behind us. And maybe if our economic system didn't suck so much, we would take care of these people.

But when creatives start getting replaced, well, that's different. Many people dream of moving into the creative industry, not out of it. Now it feels like the door is closing ahead of us, not behind us.

They don't. But if you look at predictions of the future like those in optimistic SciFi, the dream was that automation would eliminate repetitive, dirty, and dangerous jobs, eliminate scarcity of basic necessities like food, and free up every individual to pursue whatever creative endeavours they wish.

What we're getting instead is the automation of those creative endeavours, while leaving a "gap" of repetitive, mind numbing work (like labelling data or doing basic physical tasks like "picking" goods in an Amazon warehouse) that still has to be done by humans.

You're confusing "enjoying a creative endeavor" with "being able to make a living from that creative endeavor".

Hand weaving is a creative endeavor, but almost no one makes a living from hand weaving today. People still do it for fun, though.

The upside there is that most people are able to afford more than two sets of clothing (one for daily wear, one for church, weddings, funerals, etc.).