I sincerely appreciate Philip Wasserman’s letter (May 22) delving deeper into the world of robots and artificial intelligence in response to my own letter (April 22) regarding cheap immigrant labor and the fall of the Roman Empire. To respond to his initial question on my intentions, he was half right because I was half-joking when speaking of replacing cheap immigrant laborers with robots, but who knows what the wizkids will come up with next; a fruit-picking android? Why not? When there’s a will there’s a way. But there are other ways of dealing with laborers who begin to cost more than they’re worth.
The famous “Hostess strike” occurred in November 2012, when a massive nationwide work stoppage by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union prompted the original Hostess Brands to liquidate its assets and shut down operations. Following the 2012 bankruptcy, Hostess was purchased, revived as a non-unionized company, and in November 2023, was acquired by The J. M. Smucker Co. There are no recent strikes affecting Hostess operations. So, who showed who?
The underlying moral of my story was this: Just because someone somehow manages to claw his way into this country for a better life for himself and his family places no obligation on me and mine to provide it to them. In short, congratulations, and good luck to you.
Arthur Saginian
Santa Clarita
