Marx on the rise of robots
This topic came up in another thread and I thought it might be a good idea for a thread on the issue of advancing technology and its related socioeconomic effects. Marx had some thoughts on technology, which are very prophetic considering his times. Couple snips from Marx’s The Fragment on Machines (link to full text):
Labor in the proper sense, serves only within production and for production, and has no other use value. But, once adopted into the production process of capital, the means of labour passes through different metamorphoses, whose culmination is the machine, or rather, an automatic system of machinery (system of machinery: the automatic one is merely its most complete, most adequate form, and alone transforms machinery into a system), set in motion by an automaton, a moving power that moves itself; this automaton consisting of numerous mechanical and intellectual organs, so that the workers themselves are cast merely as its conscious linkages.
The saving of labour time is equal to an increase of free time, i.e. time for the full development of the individual….
So to the concerns about robots taking our jobs, Marx ‘s response is basically, duh, that’s what we built them to do, i.e., to reduce our labor time and increase our free time.
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says ‘millions of people’ will be living in space by 2045—and robots will commute on our behalf to the moon
“I don’t see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now,” the Amazon and Blue Origin founder said on stage at Italian Tech Week 2025, adding that there’s much to look forward to as technology advances.
For one, no one enjoys the dreaded commute to work, and by 2045, Bezos predicts we’ll have robots to do that for us. After all, in his vision, we won’t just be commuting to work—we’ll be venturing to other planets.
In the next kind of couple of decades, I believe there will be millions of people living in space,” he said. “That’s how fast this is going to accelerate.”
“They’ll mostly be living there because they want to,” he added. “We don’t need people to live in space
“If you need to do some work on the surface of the moon or anywhere else, we will be able to send robots to do that work, and that will be much more cost-effective than sending humans.”
In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly—only then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.
Despite Lenin and others who tried to hasten that or read it backwards, Marx was thinking capitalism would consume itself in 100-200 years. That's when he prrdicted the bolded would happen. Not bad.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says ‘millions of people’ will be living in space by 2045—and robots will commute on our behalf to the moon
For people like Bezos, with lives separated from daily chores that are still part of the lives of everyday people, it is probably easy to live under the illusion that machines can do everything for you.
The era of the everyman inventor is also largely over. So, while the market obviously prices in advances that can be sold to the average Joe, I think the era of inventions equivalent to the washing machine or dishwasher are over.
While I don't think the era of new technology as a force for the common good isn't over per se, nor do I think it was only about that to begin with, I do think we will see a lot less of it going forward.
So, while space travel is a lofty goal and there are good reasons to pursue it as a species, I do not see it changing anything. Whatever political troubles, environmental concerns, socio-economic habits and cultural woes we have going on here on this piece of rock, we're going to bring them with us to space.
I wouldn't worry about it too much.
For people like Bezos, with lives separated from daily chores that are still part of the lives of everyday people, it is probably easy to live under the illusion that machines can do everything for you.The era of the everyman inventor is also largely over. So, while the market obviously prices in advances that can be sold to the average Joe, I think the era of inventions equiva
You don't think domestic robots are coming or you don't think they will be big like washing machines?
Apart from space changing errr literally 'space', I agree with your sentiment about woes. I really struggle with the rest. Entertainment, chore doing, care services etc.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says ‘millions of people’ will be living in space by 2045—and robots will commute on our behalf to the moon
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.[/I]
This. When our abilities add very little and need are easily met it becomes a very different world. I'm not sure exactly what marx predicted but capitalism as we have known it fails and something more communistic looks a lot stronger.
You don't think domestic robots are coming or you don't think they will be big like washing machines?
Apart from space changing errr literally 'space', I agree with your sentiment about woes. I really struggle with the rest. Entertainment, chore doing, care services etc.
Healthcare challenges in societies that are aging combined with a dwindling workforce will spur a big market for domestic robots. If we see advancements that way, they will probably make their way into the private market as well.
However, the "gadget" is long since dead. It has been buried by patent laws increasingly difficult for individuals and small businesses to handle, and big capital industry that do not enjoy outright competition as much as silent understanding, which again allows them to increasingly force consumers into subscription as opposed to ownership. These entities do not enjoy disruption either, preferring the market to be stable, predictable and easy to exploit.
As consumers reject subscription we might see a return to the gadget and actual ownership, but I don't expect near monolithic tech-giants to go down easily.
Interesting idea. Maybe but I'm skeptical as if the west puts too many such obstacles in the way that we will blown away by China, India etc. That itself will force the west to adapt faster than it otherwise might.
We tend to be very western focused but it seems more like China are leading the way on robotics and household gadgets is where the current action is.
