In Tribute
Years ago, I was told that the greatest kindness one can do is for those that have passed away because there can be no expectation of reward or recognition for the act. Whether it is ensuring that someone has a proper burial, doing good deeds in their honor or simply attending their funeral, these kindnesses are extraordinary because of the complete selflessness required. I have always thought that this was a really beautiful sentiment. Recently though I happened upon a couple stories in which people were able to fulfill this altruistic act of charity.
Eddie Ford survived the holocaust by hiding with a Christian family in Budapest and therefore didn’t know much about the Jewish faith. For the past eight months, Mr. Ford has enlisted the help of a rabbi, Zale Newman, who visited the hospital every week, to teach him the basics of Judaism. When Eddie Ford passed away at 85 years old, on January 29, he was alone. He did not have any family or friends left. Rabbi Newman took to Facebook to assemble a group of people to attend the funeral and carry out the religious services.
Rabbi Newman only received three confirmations from prospective attendees, yet when he arrived to the cemetery that bitter Thursday afternoon he was greeted by approximately 200 strangers who had come out in the -27 degree weather to pay tribute to a man they hadn’t even heard of until the night before.
Rabbi Newman described the emotional experience as being “the best of humanity” and went on to say that “There was so much purity, there was no recognition, no way to get paid back. I’m not a mushy guy, but I went home and cried for an hour.”
A similar occurrence took place at the funeral of US Army veteran James McCue on February 14.
When McCue passed away at 97 years old, the WWII vet was alone as he had outlived his friends and family. The Massachusetts Veterans’ Services Secretary, Francisco Urena, tweeted about the upcoming funeral, inviting all to join in paying tribute to this American hero.
The funeral, complete with full military honors for the decorated war vet, was attended by an astonishing 500 people. The crowd included people from all walks of life coming together to honor the veteran who bravely served in the major WWII battles of D-Day invasion, as well as battles in Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe.
Reading about these beautiful funeral services really touched my heart because of the inspirational way in which strangers took time out of their busy lives to remember and honor the deceased simply because their deaths would have passed by uneventfully as both Eddie Ford and James McCue did not have any surviving friends or family to mourn them.
-Rose
Amazon and Our Automated Future
Their windows lookout onto neighboring homes which tower in the sky. As a woman prepares breakfast with the press of a button her husband gets ready to leave for his middle class job at where he too presses buttons. This is a scene from the popular 1960s cartoon The Jetsons. The show depicts a utopic vision of the future of automations where robots do the heavy lifting while man sits back and relaxes. Although they are not well off they are still able to enjoy the luxuries that an era of technological advance has ushered in. It is a society in which the idea of a three-bedroom house in the sky is considered poor.
The show is the product of an era that envisioned shorter work weeks replaced by hours of leisure time. It suggests a world in which the fruits of technological advance have been distributed. Yet it is far from the reality we see today. Instead what we see is lower wages, fewer jobs and rising inequality. Instead of sharing the fruits of an automated economy we see a selected few at the top enjoying the benefits.
Automation has evolved in conjunctionwith globalization giving companies greater power in their search for cheap labor. The Amazon HQ2 deal that recently collapsed is a product of this new era in which large companies experience mindboggling leverage in negotiations Instead of restructuring our economy to create equality we see politicians trying to woo massive corporations with billion-dollar tax breaks for the sake of “jobs”. These tactics are outdated and misguided.
Amazon has been at the forefront of automation purchasing Kiva Systems, now known as Amazon Robotics, for $775 million in 2014. According to Amazon, the use of robots and machines has not displaced workers. Instead, workers have been put in different positions which are less tedious and more fulfilling. While this may be true it is still evident that the wealth that automation has enabled the company to accumulate is not being shared. Reports of poor benefits and work conditions in their fulfillment centers continue to surface as those at the top of the company continue to prosper. While robots may not be replacing workers they are placing greater strain on humans who are forced to take 60 second pee breaks in order to keep up with their robotic counterparts.
Beyond poor work conditions, Amazon’s occupation in Seattle reveals a greater threat to the communities that surround it. Wooed by similar tax breaks recently offered by New York, Amazon settled its first headquarters in Seattle in 2007. Despite the jobs that the company brought, Seattle has continued to suffer a crisis in homelessness and housing. While Amazon owner, Jeff Bezos has expressed charitable sentiments with a $2 billion gift to combat homelessness and support education, the management of his company has proved otherwise. When Seattle tried to raise the company’s taxes in order to fund low income housing Amazon threatened to cut growth.
Learning from this lesson illustrated by Seattle, political leaders in New York like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a stand against corporate greed. Amazon has since cancelled the deal. While some see this as a much needed change others appear to be in mourning over the cancelled deal. The lesson of Amazon should not be that politicians need to do better at appeasing to corporations but rather that they must continue to oppose unjust economic conditions these companies create.
For too long our politicians have been relying on “jobs” as a means to combat growing inequality. But as Seattle shows “jobs” alone are not a viable solution to our current economic crisis. Corporations have been given too much leeway when it comes to setting the standards of work conditions. Furthermore, as we move to an automated economy many workers are becoming displaced. It is time for politicians to adapt policy to meet the new demands of our automated economy.
Universal basic Income (UBI) has risen as an answer to the problems posed by this new economy. At it its core, UBI is the idea that all people should be given a set basic income regardless of whether they are working. The idea is radical with proponents and critics on both sides of the political spectrum. Those in favor argue that this would give workers more negotiating power when it comes to work conditions.
It is still unclear whether UBI will be a viable solution, having only small trials in places like Finland, India and Oakland California. What is clear, however, is that there will need to be reform if we are to see the future that Jetson’s creators Joseph Barbera and William Hanna dreamed up in 1962.
-Kate McGorry
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/nyregion/amazon-hq2-nyc.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/technology/amazon-robots-workers.html
The Junction Journal 