Proponents of immigration, legal and/or illegal, contend
that America needs more immigrants from all walks of life.
We need more hi-tech immigrants to lead the world in
innovation. We need more lo-tech
immigrants to do the jobs Americans won’t do.
We need more mid-tech immigrants to fill the service sector jobs that
are vacant. America is suffering from a
labor shortage. The number of posted
vacancies exceeds the number of job-lookers.
Two factors are necessary to generate economic growth and a
rising standard of living. One is gains
in productivity (innovation). The other
is labor. Immigrants are necessary to
provide labor and some are highly innovative.
Hold on! Wait just a
minute! Scientists are warning that
robots will replace 40% of jobs that humans currently perform in the coming
years and decades. (More on that
below.) If so, then perhaps immigrants
should be limited to hi-tech. But even
that claim is dubious. We can steal
hi-tech from China or Russia in areas where they lead America. Increasing the flow of women and
underrepresented minorities into STEM will fuel innovation because Diversity
and Inclusion, it is claimed, foster greater excellence in research and
education.
Immigrants put pressure on housing prices. They use more resources in America than in
their home countries, which increases waste products, carbon emissions and
climate change.
Suppose the forecasts are correct, that robots supplant
human workers. If so, millions of
Americans will be unable to earn a living, have little or nothing to do with
their time, develop mental disorders from feeling useless, and increasingly
depend on public welfare and private charity.
A smaller population will pose fewer problems and lower costs because
fewer people will be affected.
ROBOTS
First, the benefits of robots. They do not strike. They do not demand fringe benefits (health
insurance, retirement contributions, education subsidies, etc.). They do not take time off for vacations,
weekends and government holidays. They
do not demand wage increases. They do
not need to sleep. They do not need to
eat. They do not get angry or surly. Wow!
What’s not to like?
Robots come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. They perform an extraordinary array of
functions, some indicated in their names, e.g., chatbots (no nagging or
whining), sexbots (never too tired), taxbots (no person-to-person audits), and
manufacturing bots (no workplace injuries).
A (Google) search of things robots can do now, and will be
able to do in the near future, is amazing.
Here is a partial list, with firms already using some of them and
professions where they are becoming more common. Read here, here, here, and here.
Stockroom Worker (Amazon)
Bartender (Royal Caribbean Cruises)
Soldier (by 3030)
Pharmacist (University of California San Francisco)
Farmer (survey tracts, cut, prune, harvest)
Bomb Squad
Journalist (business journalism reporting facts)
Housekeeper (Roomba Vacuum. Scooba Scrub Floors, gutter
cleaning)
Paralegal (document review)
Tellers and Clerks
Car Production (Ford, GM, etc.)
Space Exploration
Remote Surgery and Microsurgery
Duct Cleaning
Crime Fighting
Fix Oil Spills
Investigate Hazardous Equipment
Industrial Welding
Move Heavy Boxes
Mimic Handwriting
Domestic Services
Companionship
Make Coffee
Cleaning
Shopping
Shave Head
Robot Pets
Pooper
Scooper
Cook With
Microwave
Lift
Patients
Chaplain
Comforting the Dying
Patiently
Assist Alzheimer Patients with Mild Exercise
Autonomous Vehicles (Cars, Buses, Trams, Trucks, Trains,
Flying Taxis)
Competition and Contests
Autonomous Life Forms
Impressive! In
addition, there are likely dozens, perhaps hundreds, of startup robotics in the
U.S. and elsewhere. Robotics is now
routinely taught from middle school on.
Hi-tech discovery has already surpassed science fiction in
several instances. Star Trek Captain
Kirk’s communicator is a toy compared with the smart phone. Ditto Dick Tracy’s watch with the smart
watch.
Going forward, the challenge will not be finding more
workers, but finding things for idle workers to do to and enjoy life,
especially as medical advances increase longevity. More immigrants now to ease temporary labor
shortages means a bigger problem later as more and more robots take over
producing goods and services.
