Is your job safe?

[Gamerprinter]

I read a report by someone who makes predictions based on science of what the next century is going to be like (I'm not claiming this person is in any way accurate), and he stated that everyone will be assigned a robot whose work pays income for each individual owner - so robots work, but we get paid for their work.

Your pilot comment reminds of the sci-fi book Friday, by Larry Niven, the main character is an artificial person (pretty much a testtube person, rather than a robot) who isn't allowed to pilot a ramjet, even though the pilot in the story operated a computer that did all the actual flying, the pilot was more a manager and public relations aboard the ramjet, and not a true pilot.

[jon404]

So Egg, is there any way to get back to the max prosperity of, say, 1967 without greatly reducing the advanced countries' populations... back to 1967 levels? I watched the increase in weekly work-hours at Qualcomm, in the years before I retired. The software engineers (programmers) there were really pushed hard. Intense deadlines and pressure. They were paid well, but the actual dollars-per-hour ... not so good.

I think tomorrow I will go see 'San Andreas'. Perhaps it will help reverse the immigration to my California... particularly after they see it in New York, China and the Middle East! Preview looked very exciting -- a REALLY FINE surfing wave wiping out the Golden Gate Bridge, tourists running in terror, great stuff!

[gray]

There will be very few jobs that can't be done by computers in the future. I would suggest we better start buying shares in these companies.

[Gamerprinter]

I think tomorrow I will go see 'San Andreas'. Perhaps it will help reverse the immigration to my California... particularly after they see it in New York, China and the Middle East! Preview looked very exciting -- a REALLY FINE surfing wave wiping out the Golden Gate Bridge, tourists running in terror, great stuff!

Personally, I don't see earthquake as the big worry in California. The real problem will be the lack of water available, as winter dumps less snow into the mountains and the Colorado River is sourced more and more by Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California. The big earthquake seems more likely to shake an uninhabitable desert where nobody lives than to cause any real real estate damage. Things look worse and worse each year.

[Cloud]

I can never understand why somewhere such as the USA (a very large economy) does not have desalination plants. There has always been a misconception that the energy costs are too high but according to wikipedia the energy costs of supplying the whole of the USA's domestic consumption of water via desalination would be less than 10% of the country's energy consumption, and what's more precious than water?

[gray]

When you carry the debt load of some of the states and Fed coming up with the cash for big ticket items is a stretch. The west no longer has the cash to spend. Locally we're looking to put in a new sewage treatment system with a cost of over one billion dollars. Most will be picked up by the local tax payer. Where does the money come from. Most people are tapped out.

[jon404]

San Diego -- we are close to opening a very large desalination plant up at Carlsbad. On line this November. 50 miilion gallons of fresh water per day, or 7% of the SD region water needs. See http://carlsbaddesal.com/

Here in coastal California, we can obviously build any number of these facilities if the drought continues or worsens. And, obviously again, we will all accept whatever the higher water bills will come to, offset somewhat by our reduced water use or water recycling. No alternative... it's part of the cost of living in California. And desalination is a lot cheaper for us than building pipelines and pumping stations up to Oregon or to get water from the Columbia River or BC.

Tough times ahead? Right now, I'm reading a great sci-fi book, The Water Knife, about water wars between Nevada and Arizona. See http://www.amazon.com/The-Water-Knif.../dp/0385352875 ... it's really good!

Back to the topic -- want a safe job? Why not your local water company, or work at your local electricity generating station? Or sewage treatment? These jobs are NOT going away! And they will always need artwork for all those flyers that come in the mail telling you to save water, don't use too much electricity during heat waves, and don't dump used motor oil in the sewers...

[gray]

I think a good job with lots of future work is advising people on how to look after their debts.

[ankhor]

ah, robots, cheap Polish and Romenian workers, my job is already gone. ;o)

[ankhor]

, and what's more precious than water?

Greed? Andyes, It could be done environmentally clean too. And since to oceans are rising, we might as well take some out of it. The biggest problem would be transportation ofcourse.