[Hoot Gibson]

Is it "progress" when human beings, their relationships and interactions and even faults and foibles, increasingly are viewed as "obstacles" to productivity?

A crude example: all the "if yes, press 1" automation certainly seems to please the corporate complex, but how does it feel to the consumer? I often want to scream, "Please, just let me talk to a person." What is the ultimate, non-monetary price of unthinkingly embracing all technology?

I do not think eastern Kentucky, as a whole, has embraced the way the world is headed. I have often wished with Harry Caudill that our region had established an Appalachian Mountain Authority (much like the TVA) to manage resources more wisely.

It will not be long before you will be unable to tell whether you are talking to a robot of a human. As for managing resources, people who own resources should be free to manage them as they see fit, as long as they do so in a way that does not infringe on other people's constitutional rights.

People are resources and they are resources that should be free to manage themselves. Too many people simply consume technology, without really understanding how it works or how to advance it. Those who are too lazy and short-sighted to develop technical skills that will continue to be in demand will be exploited by those who embrace technology and rise to meet the challenges that emerging technologies will present.

It seems as if liberals are salivating over the prospect of a universal wage for most people, as technology leaders like Elon Musk continue to create tremendous wealth for themselves.