Bill Gates Says That We Should Tax The Robots That Are Going To Take The Jobs Of Humans….

Bill Gates Says That We Should Tax The Robots That Are Going Take The Jobs Of Humans….

Over the weekend, I read an article where the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, said that the Robots that are replacing Human Beings in certain employment endeavors should likewise pay their share of taxes. At this juncture in our pending brave or angst ridden new world, I do not know how the Robots feel about rendering unto Caesar, but Mr. Gates seems to think that since a Human earning $50,000.00 annually pay taxes and that said taxes go to the coffers of the government to contribute to assisting the elderly and child care… then Robots replacing Human Beings in the work force should also contribute to the welfare of the Human collective.

I do not recalled if the Science Fiction authors - Asimov and Bradbury - that my beloved brother, Louis, introduced to, when we were boys, addressed the social ramifications of what seems to be on the horizon. This is so because the article also projected that, eventually, that over 50% of the jobs are going to be performed by Robots - incidentally, why do I have the feeling that I am guilty of some slight against Robots by referring to them as such (Robots).

For those advocating for the Robots in the work place, I am certain that there is a question that these advocates would have liked the author of the article to ask of Mr. Gates: what of his game changing invention - within Microsoft - that many could argue replaced many flesh and blood in the work place… should Mr. Gates, and many innovators like him, be paying those taxes in perpetuity too? Incidentally, in advocating the taxing of Robots, what benefits do the Robots get out of paying taxes?

One of the classic movies that I like is Harrison Ford’s Blade Runner, and, as a boy watching that movie, I understood then why he fell in love in with the beautiful Sean Young’s character who just happened to be a Robot. It is even more morally palatable because the director of Blade Runner, Ridley Scott let the cat out of the bag by letting us know that the Harrison Ford character was also a Robot - I supposed that in the reboot of Blade Runner movie, the Harrison Ford's character will be spending ample time on the Robotic Psychiatric couch for lethally eliminating so many of his own at the behest of flesh and blood....

From a political Progressive point o f view, no doubt that the right to marry Robots will soon be part of the Democratic platform, but the fight that is worth the price of admission is watching the progressives who are avid supporters of the Labor movement choosing between the rights of Robots and Humans, or perhaps, the Progressives can have their cake and eat it too. But all satire and jest aside, if indeed 50% of the Human work force is going to be eventually replaced with Robots, what, we, as a society are going to do with those displaced flesh and blood workers.

The Futurists are going to say that society adjusted to the Industrial Revolution and society will likewise adjust to a work force of Robots; however, I am waiting to see what the political parties have to say, respectively, about this issue of Robots in the work place replacing Humans? Moreover, what are the rights, if any, that are going to be enacted on behalf of Robots in the future - do I, as a Human, who owns a Robot, provided that there is such a concept of ‘ownership’ without the negative Slavery connotation, do what I want to a Robot? Furthermore, who will go down as the first Human to ‘officially’ marry, divorce, rape... Robots.

By extrapolating, we can see that a future where Robots are part of our society is fraught with challenges of every stripe… and we can only hope that the dooms-day scenarios, as played out in the Terminator movies and others do not come to fruition.

In a Rod Stewart song - Country Comfort - with lyrics by Sir Elton John, my father and I used to listen to all those years ago, indirectly addressed this issue of machines in the labor force… with an obviously bias toward flesh and blood:

Down at the mill they've got a new machine

The foreman says it cuts man-power by fifteen

Yeah but that ain't natural Mankind plays Sincere

You see he's a horse-drawn man until his dying day

I have included the hyperlink to the song below, which assisted me in fleshing out the themes of this blog - drill down and enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQtrkGiAnD8