Robot Tax ?

[observer]

Good or bad idea ?     Seems Labour plans to tax firms that replace workers with automation, but will that money be used to fund high skills training and education to keep our workforce ahead of the automation curve or will it be spent on unemployment benefits ?       

[Evil Sid]

nah it will be spent on jollies, exes and keeping the oap's well fed (the ones in the house of lords that is not us ordinary everyday plebs)as usual..

 

[asperity]

No, any taxes raised would be spent on keeping the Public Service and rail unions from calling their members out on strike. Situation normal. Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose.

[Dizzy]

I'm more than happy for a robot to replace me in all aspects of my home and work life....PLEASE 

Joking aside (errm actually I wasn't joking) but it makes sense to me for companies to be taxed on their 'robots'.  It they employed humans to do the job then the company would have to pay employers tax contributions etc anyway so fair enough if they have to pay robot tax. 

The companies would still be ok and perhaps better off as robots don't need breaks to eat and rest nor can they allegedly 'hurt' themselves on the job 'through no fault of their own' and put in a claim to one of those somewhat dodgy 'no win no fee' leeches.  Robots don't throw a sicky or get paid sick pay and they deffo wont be entitled to maternity or paternity paid breaks....well not yet anyway but there may come a time where they DO get the same rights the way things are going these days 

[Evil Sid]

If you think about it dizz, simple robots have been taking over household work for years.

we have machine that will automatically wash and dry our clothing for us. so that we don't have to do the hard work apart from loading and unloading

we have machines that will do the same for our dishes which again we only have to load and unload.

really modern hoover's will hoover the house for you without any help and can be controlled by voice remotely.

smart technology allows your heating to be regulated, lights to be turned on and off, even kettles to boil and toast to be cooked with the minimum of input from us humans.

smart fridges will not only monitor your food but will automatically order more when it gets below a certain pre-set level.

there are machines that will make sure you do not miss important messages by answering your phone for you. there are even machines that will watch tv for you.

cars now are being made that will park themselves and make all sorts of adjustments while driving and  driverless cars as well slowly being developed and rolled out so that will be something else that us humans will not have to worry and stress about.

all these machines and devices to save you time to do the things you didn't have time to do because you were doing the things the machines now do. like read the manuals to all the machines to get them to do the things they are designed to do.

one of the points you missed as regards robots in factories is that they do not get paid to do their work. there is an initial purchase and set up cost but  once that is done with they earn money fro the company 24 hours a day.

once saw a cartoon and the guy in it was saying to his mate. "i have just got a skilled job, i am now the guy who fixes the robots that fixes the robots that fix the robots"

[observer]

Seems "I robot" was a prediction.   With the advent of artificial intelligence these machines, unlike the working class of old, will begin to wonder what use do human beings have, that are living off their toil.    

[Dizzy]

Very good post Evils and you really got me thinking and appreciating just how lucky I am.  I've never thought of washing machines etc etc as being like robots and doing chores 'for me' but yes I guess they do.  Gone are the days where you have to fill a bath tub to hand wash your bedding for example or other large items... gawd I remember my mum doing that then using a hand winding mangle to squeeze the water out before pegging on the washing line...and her having big pans on the cooker boiling whites EEK thinking about that more I hope that wasn't the same pan she used to make home made pea and ham soup in as it was the same size . 

Like you  say (back to clothes and bedding washing) I just shove mine in the washer...take it out and shove in the drier...all done !  I guess really it's not a chore after all so from now on I wont whinge about the daily washer/drier loads I do      I'm even going to give all my household appliances names now and talk to them.... and say 'thank you for doing a job for me'.

 

[Evil Sid]

Have to thank Douglas Adams for a lot of that dizz. It was something he mentioned when giving the reasoning behind the electric monk in Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency. We have not quite got as far as an electric monk yet, who's sole purpose for existing was to believe things so that us humans would not have to.

your mum sounds a lot my gran was, one large pan that was used to boil whites,  pea and ham soup, cockles, mussels and all varieties of crustaceans, pigs feet and pigs heads and sheeps heads (both with the eye left in so the would see us through the week) and at least two large cabbages. Not all at once though. also remember her mangle that could probably have been used to squeeze the water out of the mattress as well and the sheets it was that big. looked like something out old steam engine exhibit.

[Dizzy]

Good grief Evil's I'm so glad my mum never boiled pigs and sheep heads in her pan with eyes staring at us.  Surely that freaked you out and put you off eating whatever was made from it...it would have me   Ewww (no pun intended lol)   As for a mange big enough to squeeze the water out of a mattress....that must have been whopper and where on earth did they store it in the house?

My mum did have ways of freaking us (well me) out though from time to time....like when she skilfully skinned a dead squirrel in one and pegged it to a board using tiny nails folowing the whole contour of the bodys head and leg shape to keep the skins shape while it dried hung from the washing line with all the other washing. 
Really that was my dads fault though cos he brought the dead critter home after seeing it on the road side and he wanted fur to make his fly fishing lures....as kids should we have been a witness to that though....if I close my eyes I can still see the vision of it hanging there and thinking
"WHAAAAT"

Not as bad as the live baby blackbird being held under the heat of our cookers grill compartment when I walked in once though...now that did traumatise me until I realised dad was only trying to dry it's feathers and warm it up (on low heat) cos it was nearly dead after falling into the pond.  It did survive... and became very attached and grateful to dad and as it grew stronger and left us it would always come if we called it.... unfortunately we named it 'Willy which was a bit embarrassing to shout over the field  

As the lovely Harry Hayes used to say looking back they were such 'Happy Days' ...... if not a little odd   

[Evil Sid]

dizz have you never heard that joke before. Lad goes to the butchers and says "mum wants a sheep's head and can you leave the eyes in it has to see us through the week"

The "mangler" as we called it was stored in a shed next to the lean to and it took two adults to manhandle into the yard to be used.

My gran was a "cook" in the old style. anything that was edible she could cook it and being brought up between the wars meant that just about anything was edible. it also meant that most of the food was fresh as well, veg and eggs from the allotment cuts of meat from the local butcher and fish from the market. unless my uncles had been fishing. leftovers prudently used the following day in some form or other, very little got wasted, even the spud peelings were boiled up and fed to the chickens. best before was usually "before it gets cold lad, there's starving people in Africa would be glad of that"

as you say happy days but definitely odd