Many argue that raising the minimum wage will encourage outsourcing of jobs to technology (i.e. menu kiosks in McDonalds), but I contend that there is no connection between the two. Wages will never influence technology implementation if it adds value and efficiency, or simply doesn’t detract from it. The cost of automation will continue to decline while cost of living increases; most trades will eventually be automated.
Rather than try to stop such uses of technology, we should encourage it. That frees more people to do what technology can’t—invent, create, and generate ingenuity—but only if we provide the tool for them to do so, which is a good liberal arts education. This is the key to jobs: education that fosters critical thinking which includes the arts and favoring STEAM over STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, *Arts, and Math).
Let’s not dumb down America or technology to keep jobs. Let’s educate America to create more, and ones that move us forward.