The MATRIX Is Winning

The movie the MATRIX was about a future where machines had enslaved most of humanity and used them to produce energy (nuclear winter had blocked the sun) while providing them a fantasy world where they thought they lived.

Of course I don't want to spoil anything, but these machines had become intelligent and controlling and to become aware of the MATRIX made you their enemy.

Now it isn't quite that dramatic but more and more the machines are taking peoples jobs.

Not consciously, but they are and if you don't have the right skill set you are in danger.

Office workers, factory workers and retail workers are all being displaced, if not already gone.

You long ago lost all those clerical workers who typed memos, answered phones, filed documents, etc. etc.

Factories have become more and more automated and the workers needed are mostly there to make sure the machines continue to function.

Retail, now allows you to shop online and malls are losing stores everywhere you look.

I can pump my own gas, checkout and bag my own groceries, have items delivered directly to my door and have very little interaction with any people to provide a service.

We don't need toll collectors in most places anymore as automated systems take care of it.

These jobs are gone and the worst part is that the people who performed these jobs are the least likely to have a skill set that helps them in the new economy.

We don't need more coal miners, we can extract more coal than we will ever need already, but we do need to figure out how to employ these people.

Using them to produce energy for the machines is not a viable option.