QuoteProject
Employees have been worrying about the rising tide of automation for 200 years now, and for 200 years employers have been assuring them that new jobs will naturally materialize to take their place.
Rutger Bregman
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the ongoing concern about automation replacing jobs while emphasizing the historical reassurance from employers about job creation.

Rutger Bregman's quote reflects the long-standing anxiety among employees regarding the impact of automation on their jobs. It suggests a cyclical pattern where, despite fears of job loss due to technological advancements, there has always been a belief or hope that new job opportunities will emerge to counterbalance this loss. The quote invites reflection on the evolution of work and the dynamics between technology and employment.

Themes

AutomationJobsEmploymentTechnologyChange

In practice

Example use cases

During a conference on the future of work, this quote can be used to prompt discussion on technological impacts.

More from Rutger Bregman

If we assume the best in people, we can radically redesign our democracy and welfare states.
Rutger BregmanRead
Since long workdays lead to more errors, shorter workdays could reduce accidents. Overtime is deadly. Tired surgeons have been found to be more prone to slip'ups, and soldiers who get too little shuteye are more prone to miss targets.
Rutger BregmanRead
My hope is that the corona crisis will help bring us into a new age of cooperation and solidarity and a realization that we're in this together.
Rutger BregmanRead
This is what a crisis does: It makes you question the status quo. That doesn't mean that after a crisis we move into some kind of utopia. But it is an opportunity for political change.
Rutger BregmanRead
While it won't solve all the world's ills - and ideas such as a rent cap and more social housing are necessary in places where housing is scarce - a basic income would work like venture capital for the people.
Rutger BregmanRead
Believing in the good of humanity is a revolutionary act - it means that we don't need all those managers and CEO's, kings and generals. That we can trust people to govern themselves and make their own decisions.
Rutger BregmanRead

Similar quotes

How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.
Morgan FreemanRead
I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead
Feminism is not here to dictate to you. It’s not prescriptive, it’s not dogmatic. All we are here to do is give you a choice. If you want to run for President, you can. If you don’t, that’s wonderful, too. I’m lucky I was raised to believe that my opinion at the dinner table was valuable. My mum and I spoke as loudly as my brothers.
Emma WatsonRead
We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.
Bill GatesRead
In my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.
Barack ObamaRead
Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.
Peter MedawarRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.