James Hayton

If you’d told the weavers of Ned Ludd’s time that those machines they were smashing would mean that ordinary people would have more changes of clothing than the richest nobles of their day, they would have shaken their heads in astonishment. What might we be astonished by if we have the courage to invest in the possibilities of a better future?

But when Uber started talking about self driving cars, they lost the plot and started talking only about cutting costs and eliminating workers. Rather than crowing about how they’d finally get rid of those pesky drivers, they should have been talking about an experiment that they’ve run since 2014, delivering flu shots. “Sure, we won’t always have drivers. But just imagine how many other jobs we can restructure and make more magical and on demand once the transportation is even cheaper and more convenient!”