Working, what for?

There were a few items in the news lately that have coalesced to bring a few issues into focus for me. One of those was fairly discrete, a side item that did not make headlines, but that reflects a general attitude: a gentleman employed by EDF (the historical French National Electricity provider, now privatized) was complaining that his job was going to disappear. His task consists in inspecting the electricity counters to record the consumption of the users. His complaint is that this is a job that could be done by children during school holidays, and people without much education, and these counters are now being replaced by models that can be read, and controlled, remotely. When he soon retires, his post is not going to be filled by a new person. He was also bemoaning people that use automated teller equipment at the supermarket, thereby eliminating the jobs of cashiers. To me, the issue is not one of the maintain of low-level jobs, but of wealth distribution. When suppressing jobs, the additional profits are typically appropriated by the capital owners. This in turn derives from the balance of power between the working class and the capital owners. As long as the power balance remains the way it is now, nothing will fundamentally change. The working class will remain exploited by the owners class. Changing the faces in the political class will not introduce any significant change to the balance of power.