Ecuador’s election wasn’t free — and its people will pay the price under President Noboa
Does automation spell the end of capitalism?
Capitalism will not 'automatically' morph into some 'postcapitalist' or socialist system due to technology replacing the human workforce. As the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY explains, ending capitalism will require a conscious, collective action on the part of 'the many' — the working class
THE END OF WORK? Labour leader Keir Starmer meets a fleet of Starship delivery robots at a Co-op in Milton Keynes, during a visit to discuss technological innovation during Covid-19
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AUTOMATION — defined as the introduction of a technology whereby a process (physical or informational) can be accomplished with significantly reduced human agency — has deep historic roots.
Two millennia ago Heron of Alexandria invented a combustion engine to open temple doors so that onlookers would believe the gods were moving them without human agency. But fire power was not used for any productive purpose — why bother to automate when you have slaves to do the work?
Under capitalism, by contrast, the displacement or routinisation of human labour in search of profit has been a prime driver of innovation. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels emphasised the dynamism of technology within capitalism.
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