Thomas Friedman, shill for the 1% and Corporate America: Average is Over.

[HughBeaumont]

31. Oh, and it's not just cheaper labor we have to worry about . . .

"Fallback", "Second" or "Starter" jobs can now be replaced by a console; a phenomenon, no doubt, that makes The Mustache Of Eternal Understanding giggle with delight . . .

And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Last April, Annie Lowrey of Slate wrote about a start-up called “E la Carte” that is out to shrink the need for waiters and waitresses: The company “has produced a kind of souped-up iPad that lets you order and pay right at your table. The brainchild of a bunch of M.I.T. engineers, the nifty invention, known as the Presto, might be found at a restaurant near you soon. ... You select what you want to eat and add items to a cart. Depending on the restaurant’s preferences, the console could show you nutritional information, ingredients lists and photographs. You can make special requests, like ‘dressing on the side’ or ‘quintuple bacon.’ When you’re done, the order zings over to the kitchen, and the Presto tells you how long it will take for your items to come out. ... Bored with your companions? Play games on the machine. When you’re through with your meal, you pay on the console, splitting the bill item by item if you wish and paying however you want. And you can have your receipt e-mailed to you. ... Each console goes for $100 per month. If a restaurant serves meals eight hours a day, seven days a week, it works out to 42 cents per hour per table — making the Presto cheaper than even the very cheapest waiter.”

Breathtaking.

I'm really all ears, free traitors: How does capitalism continue when the only jobs will be ones that older workers can't retire from, middle-aged workers can't leave or get fired from at any cost, and younger workers won't be able to get?

Offshoring or automation is fast eliminating entry level positions and offshoring or bean counting is eliminating mid-level positions. It requires years of expensive education, experience and luck to land management. Is there no place for non-extraordinary people who just want to work for a living anymore?

Here's another thought . . . if a person was "extraordinary" or even "above average", why the hell would they even want to apply that talent to something as boring, trivial and meaningless like almost any position corporate America has to offer?

Someone logically explain to me how is this going to pan out. PLEASE.