Is the Energizer Bunny Running Out of Steam?

The scene is in the near future.  A child with a battery operated toy is forced to read a book.  Why?  He can't find disposable batteries to power his toys.  Is it the end of the world as we know it?  Maybe, and it could get ugly.

You probably think I am finally losing it.  Read a book?  No more disposable batteries?  What is this world coming to?  Well, sports fans it is the beginning of the end of more jobs.

On the way to get gas this morning I was listening to NPR (it's a permanent setting on the radio in my wife's vehicle) and they were discussing how the trend has been away from disposable batteries and toward rechargeables.  Most of us have cellphones so we understand the benefit of recharging.  I do it with my laptop, my phone, my drill motor (which is finally dying), etc.  It is actually a good thing for the planet.  We save resources and pollute less.

The company producing Energizer batteries has seen a fairly constant decrease in the use of disposable batteries.  The trend will continue as more and more items start using rechargeable batteries.  Next year a plant in St. Albans, VT near the Canadian border will shut down. This company is shedding thousands of blue collar jobs across the world.  St. Albans will only lose about 165 jobs but what about the poor Malaysians who will be put out of work?  It's sad but true.

I must be a visionary because in the mid-1980s, when I was working for a manufacturing plant in Hanahan, I was introduced to my first computer assisted metal stamper.  I was amazed at all the operations it could do with this piece of steel that would have taken many people hours to accomplish.  We were told about how many man-hours we could save.  Saving money many times equates to somebody being replaced by a machine.  I foresaw people standing in the unemployment line as this machine spits out completed pieces. 

It has been a dream of people since the 1950s.  We would have machines doing the menial tasks while we sit in lounge chairs sipping drinks with colorful umbrellas in them.  Unfortunately, for a lot of people, the dream did not go exactly that way.

Increasing productivity in our plants has been a goal for many years.  As we get more efficient our factories save money.  The downside is that workers lose their jobs.  I am sure that manufacturers only saw dollar signs of savings.  In a perfect world we just cut a job, retrain a worker and fill another vacancy.  The problem is that job loss has eclipsed job creation.

I am not telling you to stop recharging your laptop or your phone, I just want to make a point that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction or something close to that.  I forget.  Anyway, it ain't all just a bed of productivity- increasing roses.

So, when you go to bed tonight, say a silent prayer for the workers that are slowly losing their jobs as the drumbeat of the bunny starts to wind down.

Michael Kaynard is a local photographer who lives in West Ashley.  His photos can be seen at http://kaynardphotography.webs.com.  He can be reached at 843-412 2299 or mkaynard@gmail.com.