Machines Versus Latino Servants -- Cont'd
Advances in robotics means that the U.S. faces a hard choice on whether to shift from Latino servants to machines. The LBT's Schultz and Katzenberg duke it out to find the answer.
5. Risk of Insurrection
Case For Latinos
By CHARLES C. SCHULTZ

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
These were the chilling words of the maniacal supercomputer HAL 9000 in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then of course we have Schwarzenegger’s T-800 from Terminator. The threat posed by machines, however, is so shocking and so frightening that it has served as the theme of major motion pictures for decades. Can we control machines? How can we stop them from taking over if they have the power to do so?
The only safe answer is not to rely on machines. Latinos have been our “machines” for 20 years in some parts of the country. Apart from a few large demonstrations, they have kept to themselves. There is no sign that this will change anytime soon.
Of course, any time you have a large servant class you will have a risk of insurrection. But at least with Latinos we can monitor their computers and smartphones to keep an eye on them. With machines, how can we probe the microscopic pathways of their silicon wafer brains? How can we ever know what they are thinking? We are in the realm of the unknown..
Case For Machines
By PROF. L. CLEMENT SAMUELSON

On March 25, 2006, more than 500,000 Latinos marched through downtown Los Angeles demanding citizenship and waving Mexican flags. We have no idea how many Latino servants are already here and whether there are already enough to cause instability. We have plenty of examples in world history of societies that fell after taking in large numbers of foreigner servants. Consider the Roman Empire. Things did not end well there.
For every malevolent machine in the movies or television, we have virtuous ones. How nice would it be to have a “Rosey” from The Jetsons in the house? I’m not convinced that science fiction should drive public policy. Let’s embrace a modern servant class that won’t talk back, complain or send its kids to our public schools. As for real evidence of insurrection -- and not science fiction -- just look around you. Look at our diversity curriculum in our schools. At least when I watch 2001: A Space Odyssey in my home theater, once I turn off the TV Hal goes away.



