Forum Post: Week of action against new technology.
Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 30, 2012, 2:41 p.m. EST by LowTech
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Week of action against new technology.
April 21-27, 2013
The money that the United States government is currently spending on new technology should be spent on helping the poor. The United States spends more money on the development of new technology than any other country in the world. In 2012 the United States government spent $125 billion on the development of new technology. The United States government is giving billions of dollars, our tax money, to universities and corporations for the development of new technology. Tell Congress to decrease funding for new technology and increase funding for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing. Call, email, contact your senators and representatives in Congress between April 21-27. Organize or attend a protest, march or rally against new technology between April 21-27. Don't buy anything from companies that sell new technology like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Best Buy, Walmart and Target between April 21-27. Donate your money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor between April 21-27. Go to the website http://weeknotech.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the week of action against new technology.
This week of action was organized by Low Tech. Low Tech's website is: http://lowtech2.blogspot.com/
In the United States the number of homeless people is growing. http://news.yahoo.com/hunger-homelessness-rise-u-cities-report-182712758.html
In the United States the number of people living in poverty is growing. http://news.yahoo.com/us-poverty-track-rise-highest-since-1960s-112946547--finance.html
Around the world the number of homeless people is growing. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/apr/10/20050410-105739-5991r/?page=all
Around the world the number of people living in poverty is growing. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMi0zYhypiTs
Around the world the number of unemployed people is growing. http://wsws.org/en/articles/2012/05/pers-m01.html
Around the world the number of starving people is growing. http://www.irinnews.org/Report/87006/In-Brief-World-hunger-increases-despite-growth-in-food-production
In 2012 the World Health Organization predicted that the number of starving people will continue to rise in the future. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2012/06/climate-change-exected-to-worsen-hunger-as-rio20-begins/1#.UOSXrWB5EzU
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, health care, disability benefits, retirement programs, unemployment benefits, welfare, aid to the poor, food stamps, food pantries, charities, homeless shelters and affordable housing are social programs.
The amount of money that the United States government is spending on social programs is decreasing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838.html
The amount of money that governments around the world are spending on social programs is decreasing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/austerity-wall-street_n_1690838.html
The United States government plans to decrease spending on social programs in the future. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/11/fiscal-cliff-talks-medicare-social-security_n_2113259.html
Governments around the world plan to decrease spending on social programs in the future. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/us-britain-politics-idUSBRE8960BH20121007 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-11/23/content_15952134.htm http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/23/us-germany-budget-cuts-idUSBRE8BM06S20121223 http://www.houseofjapan.com/local/japan-to-slash-welfare-budget-from-fy-2013
Anything that was invented after the year 2000 is new technology. Anything that was invented before the year 2000 is not new technology. Anything that is invented now is new technology. Anything that is invented in the future is new technology.
Research and development or R&D is another term for the development of new technology.
The United States spends more money on the development of new technology than any other country in the world. http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2012/02/07/global-rd-spending-to-increase-in-2012/
In 2012 the United States government spent $125 billion on the development of new technology. http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2012/02/07/global-rd-spending-to-increase-in-2012/
The United States government plans to increase spending on the development of new technology in the future. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=obama-romney-science-debate
In 2012 governments, companies and other organizations around the world spent $1.4 trillion on the development of new technology. http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2012/02/07/global-rd-spending-to-increase-in-2012/
The amount of money that governments, companies and other organizations around the world are spending on the development of new technology is increasing. http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2012/02/07/global-rd-spending-to-increase-in-2012/
Governments, companies and other organizations around the world plan to increase spending on the development of new technology in the future. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9234976/China_set_to_surpass_U.S._in_R_D_spending_in_10_years_?source=rss_keyword_edpicks
In 2011 Americans spent $144 billion buying new technology like electronics. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57377104-93/consumer-electronics-spending-hits-$144b-in-2011/
American consumers spend more money on new technology than any other country in the world. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/04/business/20080907-metrics-graphic.html
In 2012 people around the world spent $2.1 trillion buying, using and maintaining new technology. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2094015
The money that people spend on new technology should be spent on helping the poor. Instead of using their money to buy new technology people should donate their money to charities, food pantries, homeless shelters and other organizations that help the poor.
Tell everyone you know about this week of action. Pass out flyers for it. Email people about it. Tell people on Facebook, Myspace, Yahoo and other websites about it.
Go here to download a flyer for the week of action against new technology: http://www.scribd.com/doc/118353265/flyer-no-tech
Go here to find out how to contact your senators and representatives in Congress: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
Go here to see a list of some events related to this week of action: http://weeknotech.blogspot.com/p/some-events-related-to-week-of-action.html
The Facebook page for this week of action is: http://www.facebook.com/events/517971098234655/
To join the email list for this week of action send a message to: lowtech1980@gmail.com
To contact Low Tech send an email to lowtech1980@gmail.com
Is this a joke. Are you serious? If you are, then fantastic.
We could probable take it further and ban all technology before 1950. Or how about 1850?
I'm serious. This is not a joke. Poverty is a serious problem. Thousands of homeless people in the US are out in the cold right now.
What is your argument for prohibiting technology? Or are you against government funding of R&D? In which case, corporate, private R&D funding is OK?
One argument against unbridled new technology is that it relies on either microwave or satellites, and those two forms of communication are delivering massive amounts of profits to the satellite and microwave owned companies by driving down blue collar salaries.
Example, a computer based software company may pay 75,000 to 150,000 a year to one of their employees, but every new job they create results in either some blue collar jobs decreasing in value, or, that one computer software job simply eliminates 3 or 4 blue collar jobs.
The more things that "apps" control, the lower blue collar wages go. This actually would be ok IF our own government and the media quit with their economy must grow drivel.
So, it's actually a myth to tell everyone to get a college degree or higher because every college degree based job requires a certain amount of blue collar workers below them (think a pyramid structure with the college educated person on top), yet ironically, that pyramid base is shrinking and so are the blue collar salaries.
If consumer debt were incentivized so that it could be reduced, then blue collar economies could still thrive since on a local level people could circulate their income a few times BEFORE it eventually goes to some nationally based big ticket item corporation.
Another example of how our blue collar sector is being threatened, as more and more "apps" become driving forces in how everyone does their business, the threat of that app being "taken away" at a moment's notice is very real.
Those who are computer nerds love that, those who are blue collar, "give me something that works and does not change approach" find they cannot keep their company stable because what the products they use to operate their company keep being changed by the technology sector.
Sounds like a reason why many companies have an IT department. It is technology that brought man out of the caves. It is technology that brought the wheel, crops, cars, etc, etc, etc. Technology keeps us alive. Technology has been part of human existence for about 1 day less than mankind has been on earth. We have always adopted to technological advances and we will continue to do so.
The problem is, not everything has to be so adaptive There truly is a brick and mortar style of economy that should be nestled within the technology boom, instead, the brick and mortar has to rely on certain computer based technologies that can overnight compromise the company because they simply change without notice.
As for having an IT person on board, this is just another example of technology infiltration when it might not be needed.
Some of the biggest internet companies on the planet do not have real customer service, resulting in the loss of customer service jobs and an increase in profitability, but is that a good thing?
My arguments are at http://lowtech2.blogspot.com/