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Automation is not freeLet's look at the orange tree again. This time, instead of emphasizing the fact that oranges are produced by replicators, let's consider the orange tree as an automated system. The tree produces oranges all by itself, with no need for human labor. -- Except, of course, the tree has to be bought at a nursery, planted in a suitable location (the right soil, the right climate), fertilized, watered, protected from insects, etc. And then the oranges have to be picked, put in boxes, shipped to the store, sold... The store has human employees, the trucking company has human employees, the fertilizer company has human employees, the commodities exchange where they deal in orange juice futures has human employees, and so forth. The land, fertilizer, trucks, warehouses, etc. have to be paid for. The orange tree doesn't exist in some separate space by itself. It is part of the economy. That's why oranges are not free. All the considerations that I mentioned before, when I viewed the tree as a replicator, still apply when I view it as an automated system for producing oranges. If the tree were genetically engineered, that would just add one more factor to the cost. Then it would be exactly comparable to an automated factory. We can make microprocessors in automated factories which require little on-site human intervention. However, if you consider the whole system that makes microprocessors, it is only automated at one point in the manufacturing process. The automated factories exist in a larger context. All the considerations that I mentioned in connection with trees also apply here. The land, buildings, and machinery have to be paid for. The engineers who design the factories have to be paid, as do all the employees of all the companies involved -- the managers, the accountants, the lawyers, the programmers who write the software that the other people use, the teachers who train the employees, the marketing people who sell the computers, the stockbrokers who sell stock in the company, the construction workers who build the factory, the truck drivers who bring in the materials, and so forth. All those people are part of the system. They are all there for a reason. The automated machinery could not exist without them. In other words, there is no such thing as a completely automated manufacturing system. Automation always exists as part of a larger system which is not automated. Automated systems are embedded in the economy, and their products are not free. |
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