I heard this interview on The Current, as well, Harold. The whole concept of re-thinking routine work and developing new ideas of what work is, will transform how and why we live.

I sense that, in the current political climate, especially in the West, there's a strong desire to revert to how things were in the 1950s. The problem is our collective false memory of what life was like then. In my latest blog I used a black and white photograph of a dozen or so employees building electric door bells. I can't imagine what it was like to rise every morning and go to a job like that.

Like thinking back to high school days, we are very good about recalling the championship football game, but no so good remembering how numbing calculus was. We are in danger of making the same mistake when we remember what we were able to do with the money we earned from work, but forget what we did to earn the money.

What we need to do is think more like farmers, by looking at work more holistically, more critically, and making changes where they make sense.

While it's great to be part of the creative class, sometimes some work has to be routine. How else would things get done? I agree with your point on looking at technological solutions where it's possible to automate routine work to robotics, as an example, but retain workers where they can have a more human interaction.

If we automate the production of doorbells, we need to develop creative solutions, where workers can truly add value in the process of building, testing, packaging, and selling doorbells to the world. The alternative, laying people off, is just as numbing as my Grade 11 Calculus was. It's a waste of time, energy, and talent.

Thanks for a thought-provoking article, Harold.

Shaun Browne