Canada’s social dilemma

Posted on Posted in Reflections on Life

Consider this, especially if you have children or grandchildren.

It will be no more than 15 years when a dramatic increase in demand for social assistance will be upon Canadians. Industries and corporations are well on the path of replacing the North American workforce with automation and robotics. By 2030 it has been estimated that more than 25% of North American jobs will be replaced by automation. This is where capitalism has taken us, and will continue to take us.

It’s time we, and our governments, start reacting to a way to sustain that unemployed population. Welfare in Canada is a form of GMI (guaranteed minimum income) however, it will become unsustainable as we continue to evolve towards 2025 and beyond. A new form of BMI (basic minimum income) must be engineered and implemented in Canada. Either that or we start moving Canada away from capitalism and towards socialism.

Finland is one of the first countries to implement a BMI solution where citizens receive a minimum income regardless of wealth, current income, or employment status. If Canada doesn’t start planning for the very near future then we will very quickly have severe social welfare issues in Canada. Issues which are preventable if Justin Trudeau’s government starts reacting now. Trudeau needs to take a serious look at what Finland is doing.

Being critical of those on social assistance is not a productive solution. We need to put pressure on our Members of Parliament to start planning for a future with robotics and automation. It is suggested that between 2030 and 2040 more than 50% of the workforce could be replaced by automation and robotics. The problem isn’t those needing or abusing welfare, the problem is what’s causing it.

The jobs are disappearing already. There are so many examples I can give of this happening, but I’ll give you one. Autonomous driving vehicles that Uber is putting on the roads. Reno, NV in the US, Finland, and China already have autonomous buses on the road. How many transit workers are there in Canada?

Google, Apple, and Amazon have just this month forged a partnership that will see artificial intelligence and automation with robotics replace a substantial part of the workforce.

Just something to think about.

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