Until the cybernetic and automation revolution got underway in earnest in the late 1970s, increases in production and profits meant the hiring of more workers. Advances in technology and automation combined with a rapidly widening income gap have caused massive dislocation, deskilling and unemployment. People of color, already the most disadvantaged in society, are trapped in inner cities that have been most heavily hit by social and technological changes. Efforts by unions and their allies to oppose downsizing and the transfer of jobs out of the country make them seem like modern day Luddites standing in the way of progress - and the inevitable. With the notable, although limited, exception of the recent United Auto Workers contracts with the Big Three U.S. automakers which guarantee 95 percent employment for the term of the agreement, most efforts for job guarantees or to stop runaway shops have been nearly universally unsuccessful.
Capital continues to freely shed workers and roam the earth seeking the highest rate of profit.
One impact on individuals and families is the shift of millions of dollars in wealth from the poor to the rich. While the U.S. has not recently been known for its income equality, the stratification has worsened since the 1980s, according to the Census Bureau. The bottom 20 percent received only 4.2 percent of the total. In terms of income distribution, the U.S. differs little from Mexico, where the top 20 percent receive 54 percent of the income and the bottom 20 percent get 4.3 percent. The so-called middle class, or at least that 60 percent in the middle, has also seen its share of national income decline from 53.5 percent to 49 percent.