monagustafsonaffinito   CHATS AND RANTS — PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE

My friend Harriet monitors my intention (not sufficiently met) to write something every day here in my blog. She thought my most recent one, about demanding more babies, wouldn’t interest anyone. And my daughter Lisa agreed it was important, but thought I didn’t do a good job of drawing people’s attention. So I’m trying again. I think the issue is very important. Here’s why.

I am by no means an adequate data analyst, but this one seems so obvious as to be hit-one-in-the face important. To begin with, there’s the fact that we’re forcing the birth (yes, current laws do just that) of babies for whom we are not prepared, so we have potential suffering and expense right from the get-go. That really requires another blog. I think I wrote one a while back. But now I just want to focus on the “why?” 

If the intention is to provide worker bees, or military recruits, once the generation hits working age, I ‘m taking a risk to say it so bluntly, but I think that’s stupid. The already rapid replacement of people with more efficient, less expensive, less demanding automation and AI means there won’t be that work to do, at all levels of demand for strength and intelligence.

 I won’t be alive to see it (well, maybe some of it) but like it or not there will have to be a change in our basic cultural values. Actually, it’s already happening, but not making it big on the news. We’ll have to learn to live with health, happiness, fulfilling relationships, creativity, pleasure in the arts and each other. It’ll be tough, though, because we are so focused on the once essential ways of valuing ourselves by our work-for-pay. There will no doubt be a huge struggle, maybe even destructive and painful, but there’s no way we’ll be turning back to the demand for the kind of labor I guess folks are demanding with the call for more babies.

Okay. I’m going to stop. That’s my basic point for today, and even though I’m skittish about being so bold, I am going to hit send. 

Now please go back and read my previous entry. 

Next I think I’ll write about that fascinating word “retire.”