Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois has made news this weekend with his claim that the iPad (and similar tech) has lead to the elimination of thousands of American jobs.
The representative is a big fan of the efficiency of the iPad, and has even proposed that all Illinois students eventually be given one as a learning tool, but says it does not help the growing problem of unemployment.
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I may be missing something, but why has almost every comment concluded that he wants to stop the advancement of technology? What I perceive from most of these comments is actually a mindset very similar to the point he is making. Sounding the warning bell that technological advancement is impacting employment does not imply that technology should be halted, but that Congress and our other leaders must understand the impact in order to adapt legislation to keep our society and economy healthy.
Due to a lack of time to better research my supposition, I am going out on a limb here by making the following unsubstantiated assumption. This clip appears to be edited short of his conclusion in order to evoke a negative response from viewers. If that is the case, then we need to be careful not to fall into a trap that was set to manipulate us and further divide our nation. Divide and conquer, consider what factions benefit most by distorting our perceptions. We can accomplish so much more if we attempt to find common ground and pull together rather than allowing divisive forces to pull us apart and reduce us to the lowest common denominator.
Quote:The representative is a big fan of the efficiency of the iPad, and has even proposed that all Illinois students eventually be given one as a learning tool, but says it does not help the growing problem of unemployment.
Says Jackson:
If someone wants an iPad, let them get a job and buy it themselves. He bought his, he said. I'll remain on the other side of this divide and keep my money. You can give an extra share for me. As long as people want to share the wealth, ultimately the pyramid breaks down for lack of enough wealth to support the toads, feeding on the government teet.
The American economy is in the $hitter right now, and this is what our government representation is debating? Ipads? Are you kidding me?
Even if Apple starts making iPads in America, how are the employees going to get to the factory to work when gasoline is $6/gallon?
One day....one day....I just know that Americans aren't going to use name recognition (Jackson, Bush, Clinton...) or skin color ("Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we elected the first ever purple president?!") and instead vote our leaders into office based on their experience, qualifications, and ability TO DO THE JOB. Instead, we have a community organizer as president. How about we start there and leave the irrelevant iPads out of of it. Sheesh.
