Not Even Your Life Is Wanted Anymore

https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20251111-7801146

The news says robots are about to be deployed at scale. The article puts it decently: this is ‘high-quality development,’ this is ‘intelligent upgrading.’ But I keep feeling there is something cold in those words. Like a celebration for a funeral nobody was invited to.

There was a time when, however miserable things got, those at the bottom still had one presentable skill — trading their lives for money. Down the mines, hauling rebar, into the chemical plants. The pay was low, but as long as you were willing to grind, you could always live like someone who was ‘useful.’ Their lives were their last bargaining chip. Now even that chip is being taken over by machines.