How are people supposed to live if their jobs are being taken over by artificial intelligence and robots? I agree that some jobs are done better by automation – mining, deep sea exploration, cleaning polluted water ways and land, parts assembly, exploring other planets that do not have breathable atmosphere, and mind-numbing tasks like verifying a hundred pins are in a packet.

But humans shouldn’t be replaced, especially in a country has no real social welfare programs in place to enable the unemployed or disabled, or even children, to have a meaningful life. There are so many forms to complete, so many proofs of employable status or unemployable status, and gatekeepers and nosy parkers who involve themselves in other people’s business and create problems.

This country likes to claim it’s the greatest, but lacks a supportive infrastructure for its citizens. No universal healthcare, no guaranteed minimum income to ensure that everyone has a place to live and food to eat. Our food, water and air are poisoned by the upper 10 percent in the name of profit, who buy companies to transfer their debt to so they can declare bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers with higher tax bills and empty store fronts and businesses.

The few data centers that have bern built are already causing problems. The builders promise jobs and improvements for the communities they build near, but instead they pollute the water table, cause aquifers to fail, and consume electricity that increases the power bills of the nearby residents.

The centers will actually provide few jobs other than the initial construction of the centers and supervisory personnel, and the artificial intelligences will not add much to the value of the towns they are in. A few custodial humans will move in, but they will start to change the character of the towns. They will want more modern houses, wider streets, and demand higher priced goods and services. They won’t shop in the local businesses because they don’t provide the amenities of larger cities.

While other countries have invested in the health and welfare of their citizens, this country is devolving into a third world nation. The oligarchy siphons funds out of communities and hoards the wealth of the nation. None of the oligarchs could spend all of their wealth even if they all lived to be hundreds of years old.

The wealth of one man could modernize the entirety of the continent of Africa with funds left over. The fact that one percent of the human population controls most of the resources, most of the money, and the health and livelihoods of billions of people is the true crime against humanity.

I would love to be wealthy. Better than that, I would love to just be debt free. Unlike many people, I consider myself to be well off because I can afford to keep my credit use reasonable. I have a house — yes, there’s a mortgage — but I can afford the payment. I use credit cautiously, generally paying the cards off within a month or so.

One of the credit card companies notified me that they are reducing my credit limit because I don’t use the card enough. Fine by me. I’m cancelling that card anyway. My credit score will take a hit, but no big deal. It won’t be that much of a hit.

I spent years clawing my way up from practically no credit score to one that has three digits. I have everything that I need because my needs are reasonable except for craft supplies. We all have our faults.

Before you get all mad at my rant, remember this is just my opinion based on moderate research, reading, and life experience. You have your opinion based on your information gathering. We can have differing opinions. That’s what the First Amendment is about, right?

Pinterest just showed me a spatula/spoonish-shaped thing for applying butt cream on a baby. My jaw fell open. Are parents these day too paranoid to touch baby butts that need cleaning? Or are they leaving diapers for longer periods of time because of cost, so that diaper rash is more common?

I admit my baby caring days are very last century with cloth diapers, diaper pails, and such. I used the disposable diapers on trips or outings, but for the most part, cloth diapers were my normal go-to. But that was just me.

I also had a neighbor that objected to my youngest’s daily summer air nap. I used to put him in a small crib in the carport on nice days, totally without clothing. I’d be there on a lounger reading a book and my neighbor who was way younger than me, would come over and complain that my baby was naked. Every single time!

I finally asked her why she was looking. It was because she could see his “private parts.” So I asked her again why she was looking. She had no good answer. She never complained again. I still don’t know why a naked baby in a carport 30 feet from her house triggered her.

I did find out later that she was from the Wisconsin version of Pennsyltucky, so that might have been the reason. There are a lot of small towns up north that are just like the insular towns in other rural areas of the country.

But back to the butt spatula/spoon thing — they come in colors and multiple sizes. There’s what looks like a suction cup on the handle end so the thing stands upright on a flat surface. You can buy sets. It’s the future of baby care where infants are handled by machines and left in “pods” until they’re large enough to be put in creches with other pod children wearing headsets wired to their brains for “education.”

The way things are going with the current government, this might happen. 1984, Brave New World, and The Handmaids Tale were not meant to be blueprints for the future. But here we are.