There is a painting by the French artist, Jean-François Millet, titled “Man with a Hoe,” from 1862. This painting inspired American poet Edwin Markham to write a heart wrenching poem about the plight of the serf.

In that poem of the same name, Markham poses the question, "Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox? Whose breath blew out the light within this brain?"

In this poem, Markham cites numerous indictments of the privileged class of the time and the assaults and the usurping of dignity of the working class.

Markham closes with these ominous perceptions:

O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings—
With those who shaped him to the thing he is—
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God
After the silence of the centuries?

We have righted the many indignities of the working people in western societies. I don’t fear for us who are enjoying a certain level of human endeavors.

However, we have been told we are entering into a future that no one can predict. We need to think about how we shape our future that will be dictated by technology that very few of us understand. Will we descend into a new underclass when more wealth is in the hands of fewer and fewer people? These are times that must be dealt with by labor unions understanding the potential problem and planning to share in the growth. That threat is Artificial Intelligence, or perhaps our savior.

Ernie Fazio