” On the other hand, there is no doubt that 100 years ago those same people’s great grandfathers were looking for a job coming off the farm, due to the mechanization of agriculture and the fact that farmers didn’t need nearly as many farm hands. “
100 years ago, the workers who left the Agriculture Industry were absorbed by the burgeoning Industrial Revolution..
Since ‘labor intensiveness’ is the antithesis of the IT Revolution, what is there, now or on the horizon, to absorb the ‘post-industrial’ workforce??
That’s the structural problem we face, and ‘Somehow, something will work out’ isn’t a ‘solution’......
I understand what you are saying, though technically, the Industrial Revolution occurred first, to allow the mechanization of agriculture. Really it was the burgeoning rise of assembly line mass production, not the Industrial Revolution.
I also bet that few foresaw that burgeoning rise at the time, and that we could find plenty of op-eds wondering what we were going to do with all the displaced farm hands.
My solution: Develop our energy resources to keep energy costs low, and devolve our government to reduce regulatory overhead. Let the free market take it’s course.