S&T is Progressively Equitable

Summary:

    S&T is equitable, in a "progressive" way. Equity should be applied to all kinds of job position, not only in workshop. 

Human labor could be replaced by machines with the advancement of S&T(science and technology), but I don't consider this replacement inequitable. Instead, thinking more about S&T, along with its process and impact, you will find it equitable in a progressive way. It helps achieve a progress that benefits most of people in most of time.

    For employer:

Trying to implement S&T into production, employer in fact runs a risk. Employer paid for the R&D(research and development), but it is possible that the project failed, or that the machine is less superior or less efficient than human labor. 

By successfully implementing S&T into production, employer obviously earns more. Mass and non-stop production brought by machines is a reason, while cutting down cost by dismissing no-longer-necessary workers is another. Classifying its worker, however, is another reason why employer would earn more with S&T implemented. As individuals, each worker has his own comparative specialty. Those differences are nearly unnoticeable, but will make big difference when accumulated. S&T helps employer to find out which part of or procedure in production each of his worker is good at, and thus, by finding the best positions for them, productivity is increased. 

    For employee:

Worker and labor are not the same. People with different kinds of knowledge or education level should be given different opportunities. Eliminating S&T just in order to offer more job position is, in my opinion, a must-fail attempt to achieve equity, because just like jobs that are potentially replaceable by S&T, there are jobs that must do with it. My father studied computer science in college. Back in early 1980s when he graduated, there are not as many colleges as today. Few students are intelligent and hard-working enough to go to college. Also, people in my home country was lacking knowledge in this field. Only few people are able to afford a personal computer. He was, in my opinion, one of the pioneers in the field of computer science nationwide. Do you think it is "equitable" to guarantee a non-educated worker a job, and leave him, a college graduate major in S&T unemployed?

However, I have to say that in most cases, S&T is designed not only to replace human labor, dismiss them and cut labor cost, but also to help improve overall quality of goods. Grado Labs, a well-known Brooklyn family run manufacturer of hand made headphones, recently replaced all their product lines with newer models. The newer models looks exactly the same as the discontinued, but superior in built quality and sound quality. As reported on its website, Grado Labs equipped all its workers, the hand-makers of its product, more advanced tools and teach them how to use. The company is now able to produce better headphones and service to customers. S&T did not cause unemployment. Instead, it made the company more high-technological, its worker more capable, its headphones more competitive, and its customer more satisfied. 

There is another possible situation in which S&T reduce tiring work. Farmers in the US are known as the most productive. Each farmer is able to handle farmland 10 times larger than those in other countries. It is S&T that assist US farmers, that make them such productive. In this case, farmers are not potential victims at all because they are the ones who make use of S&T, operate the machine and benefit from the less tiring work. 

    For society:

I am totally agree with the idea of disagreement and social conflict ("People's interests and needs usually are in partial or substantial conflict ... Therefore, it rarely make sense to use terms such as ... 'society'", The Future of Technological Civilization), but I still believe there is a tendency toward "harder, better, faster, stronger" in whatever kind of society. This four aspects briefly summarize the inborn human desire for finer things and illustrate the term "progress" generally. 

Yes, there is a trade-off between labor employment and S&T in production. No matter to which side the scale inclined, only a certain amount of people consider themselves benefited. However, in order to meet the immortal desire for "harder, better, faster, stronger", S&T is, sad to some people but true, a path that society will have to trek down. Machine runs mostly with electricity, working way harder than any studious human labor; machine barely goes wrong, producing good in a fixed standard of quality; machine makes possible mass production, running in a constant, high speed; machine might be out of order, but less often compared to human getting sick. 

    In conclusion:

S&T is progressively equitable. It helps employers progress their management and production, and earn maximum profit. It helps employees find the most suitable position equitably, assists their operation in producing goods, and benefits them by doing tiring, repetitive works for them. Most importantly, it is a way for both society and individuals to fulfill the unrestrained need for making progress and living a better life.