Exploitation…

Garment factory workers sewing green uniforms

Exploitation: 1) use or utilization, especially for profit (2) selfish utilization. Profit: as a noun – advantage, benefit, gain, As a verb – to gain an advantage or benefit. The Industrial Revolution roughly began circa 1750 and was marked by a shift from hand production methods to machine-based manufacturing. The steam engine, the flying shuttle allowing faster weaving of cloth, advancements in iron production and metallurgy. In 1776 Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations outlining the foundations of free market capitalism, which supported the entrepreneurial growth which has never ceased. 1793 the U.S. Cotton Gin invented by Eli Whitney and 1804 the first Locomotive. In less than 300 years humanity has experienced a material transformation which is unrivaled in the history of our species. Global population has exploded from about 800 million to about 8.3 billion, a ten times multiple. Now, in the third millennium CE, the innovations are happening so quickly that even the innovators themselves are unsure of where we are headed. Particularly, will Artificial Intelligence (AI) advance on its own to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and replace us slow, frail, inefficient and emotional beings for machines which have proven to be the ultimate solution to material advancement? On top of this possibility we have infighting going on at such a level that bodily fear is prominent everywhere as we continually sacrifice freedoms for security. Perhaps if we begin to view ourselves as one global family with many relatives who may have different behaviors, but who share the same common interests of life and liberty, and are happy to just live and let live, we can side-step a dismal future…

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