News 5

Where Have All the Jobs Gone?

The unemployment rate has been increasing in the past couple of years and has reached its highest this year. What is the source of this potentially permanent mass unemployment? Technology. With their capability of performing calculations at an extremely high level, computers have taken over more of our mental tasks. Cheaper, faster and more efficient computers are preferred by businesses over workers. Our heavy physical labors are replaced by robots that work faster and more efficient than we do. Programmed to do exactly as told, employers avoid the possibility of conflict between workers.

The jobs left have become more competitive than ever. Those with highly specialized skills or knowledge have a greater edge over those with less schooling. It is not unusual to see older adults, as 50 year-olds to go back to school and start new careers later in life. Older adults are looked upon with greater experience. With the increase in the older generation, the younger generation has found it harder to find good jobs.

Sure, improved technology has led to medical advances, but it has also taken over our jobs in the process. Is it also fair for those that are older to have an unfair advantage over those that are young?

Ever since the Human Genome Project has been completed, there have been series of breakthroughs in curing genetic disease. All of the known genetic diseases have been avoided through genetic manipulation. Many powerful medications and therapies have developed with help from our understanding of genetics, human biology, and organic chemistry.

Technology has been created to advance medical science. We have already seen the use of animals for developing organs to be donated to humans. Now, bioengineers have created a way the body can grow or replace lost or damaged skin tissue. Tiny sensors have been created to enter a person's bloodstream and bring back information about its composition. Programmed devices injected into the human body can direct skin cells to repair wounds and repair muscle and brain cells. We are also able to construct replacement bodies and brains. Advanced technology has enabled us to increase the possibilities of prolonging a person's life span.

Are We Losing Our Privacy?

Tiny cameras hidden in lampposts and street signs can be found throughout the streets of a city, as well as in every store and public place. This is the government's newest plan to diminish the crime rate and to enforce safety for everyone. Everyone is given a TV that accesses all the cameras in the city. With such a device on hand, anyone can scan to see if the streets are safe. This has become especially useful during the evening and late nights.

Street crimes and robberies have declined almost entirely. These cameras are hooked to every police station in the city. Security guards occasionally scan the cameras, making sure everything is in order. If anything they see looks suspicious, they immediately report it, and the scene is investigated. Robberies of banks and stores have decreased, since police have reached the spot before the bandits were able to escape.

These cameras have obviously been of great use to the cities, but there have been increasingly complaints from people about these cameras. Most feel that they are invaders of their privacy. Although people do feel a great deal safer, most walk through the streets, uncomfortable with the fact that someone is watching their every movement. We also run the risk that the uses of these cameras are abused. For example, it becomes quite easy for just about anyone to use these cameras to stalk a person of his choice. Instead of protecting, the cameras are in turn, used against the people. There is no way to distribute the cameras to only those who we think will use it only for their safety reasons.

There is a sense of freedom taken away from the people. Some feel restrained from acting naturally. Being watched by just about anybody, most people feel restricted on the way they can act. We have all become subjects of scrutiny. All our privacy has been lost once we step out from our homes.