FREE ESSAY ON EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY

EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY

How Technology Effects Modern America - US Wage Trends
The microeconomic picture of the U.S. has changed immensely since 1973, and the trends
are proving to be consistently downward for the nation's high school graduates and high
school drop-outs. Of all the reasons given for the wage squeeze - international
competition, technology, deregulation, the decline of unions and defense cuts -
technology is probably the most critical. It has favored the educated and the skilled,
says M. B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report (7/31/95). Since 1973,
wages adjusted for inflation have declined by about a quarter for high school dropouts,
by a sixth for high school graduates, and by about 7% for those with some college
education. Only the wages of college graduates are up.
Of the fastest growing technical jobs, software engineering tops the list. Carnegie
Mellon University reports, recruitment of it's software engineering students is up this
year by over 20%. All engineering jobs are paying well, proving that highly skilled labor
is what employers want! There is clear evidence that the supply of workers in the
[unskilled labor] categories already exceeds the demand for their services, says L.
Mishel, Research Director of Welfare Reform Network.
In view of these facts, I wonder if these trends are good or bad for society. The danger
of the information age is that while in the short run it may be cheaper to replace
workers with technology, in the long run it is potentially self-destructive because there
will not be enough purchasing power to grow the economy, M. B. Zuckerman. My feeling is
that the trend from unskilled labor to highly technical, skilled labor is a good one!
But, political action must be taken to ensure that this societal evolution is beneficial
to all of us. Back in 1970, a high school diploma could still be a ticket to the middle
income bracket, a nice car in the driveway and a house in the suburbs. Today all it gets
is a clunker parked on the street, and a dingy apartment in a low rent building, says
Time Magazine (Jan 30, 1995 issue). 
However, in 1970, our government provided our children with a free education, allowing
the vast majority of our population to earn a high school diploma. This means that
anyone, regardless of family income, could be educated to a level that would allow them a
comfortable place in the middle class. Even restrictions upon child labor hours kept
children in school, since they are not allowed to work full time while under the age of
18. This government policy was conducive to our economic markets, and allowed our country
to prosper from 1950 through 1970. Now, our own prosperity has moved us into a highly
technical world, that requires highly skilled labor. The natural answer to this problem,
is that the U.S. Government's education policy must keep pace with the demands of the
highly technical job market. If a middle class income of 1970 required a high school
diploma, and the middle class income of 1990 requires a college diploma, then it should
be as easy for the children of the 90's to get a college diploma, as it was for the
children of the 70's to get a high school diploma. This brings me to the issue of our
country's political process, in a technologically advanced world.
Voting & Poisoned Political Process in The U.S.
The advance of mass communication is natural in a technologically advanced society. In
our country's short history, we have seen the development of the printing press, the
radio, the television, and now the Internet; all of these, able to reach millions of
people. Equally natural, is the poisoning and corruption of these medias, to benefit a
few.
*From the 1950's until today, television has been the preferred media. Because it
captures the minds of most Americans, it is the preferred method of persuasion by
political figures, multinational corporate advertising, and the upper 2% of the elite,
who have an interest in controlling public opinion. Newspapers and radio experienced this
same history, but are now somewhat obsolete in the science of changing public opinion.
Though I do not suspect television to become completely obsolete within the next 20
years, I do see the Internet being used by the same political figures, multinational
corporations, and upper 2% elite, for the same purposes. At this time, in the Internet's
young history, it is largely unregulated, and can be accessed and changed by any person
with a computer and a modem; no license required, and no need for millions of dollars of
equipment. But, in reviewing our history, we find that newspaper, radio and television
were once unregulated too. It is easy to see why government has such an interest in
regulating the Internet these days. Though public opinion supports regulating sexual
material on the Internet, it is just the first step in total regulation, as experienced
by every other popular mass media in our history. This is why it is imperative to educate
people about the Internet, and make it be known that any regulation of it is destructive
to us, not constructive! I have been a daily user of the Internet for 5 years (and a
daily user of BBS communications for 4 years), which makes me a senior among us. I have
seen the moves to regulate this type of communication, and have always openly opposed
it.
My feelings about technology, the Internet, and political process are simple. In light of
the history of mass communication, there is nothing we can do to protect any media from
the sound byte or any other form of commercial poisoning. But, our country's public
opinion doesn't have to fall into a nose-dive of lies and corruption, because of it! The
first experience I had in a course on Critical Thinking came when I entered college. As
many good things as I have learned in college, I found this course to be most valuable to
my basic education. I was angry that I hadn't had access to the power of critical thought
over my twelve years of basic education. Simple forms of critical thinking can be taught
as early as kindergarten. It isn't hard to teach a young person to understand the
patterns of persuasion, and be able to defend themselves against them. Television doesn't
have to be a weapon against us, used to sway our opinions to conform to people who care
about their own prosperity, not ours. With the power of a critical thinking education, we
can stop being motivated by the sound byte and, instead we can laugh at it as a cheap
attempt to persuade us.
In conclusion, I feel that the advance of technology is a good trend for our society;
however, it must be in conjunction with advance in education so that society is able to
master and understand technology. I think technology has an important effect on us, the
way we act, react, and take actions in society. We can be the masters of technology, and
not let it be the masters of us. 
Bibliography
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