Morning
Yes, I know it's 6.30 in the morning, but I've had a Thought and it couldn't wait until decent hours. Those of you who've studied economics, development studies, geography...anything kinda eco-social...will be familiar with the conventional teaching that when a developing country moves towards developed status, its agricultural and manufacturing sectors are increasingly sacrificed towards the tertiary (services) sector. In other words - less farmers, less car makers, more lawyers (god, what an awful thought). Classic example, of course, would be the United Kingdom, whose manufacturing sector is going to pot, and has instead made itself a financial and insurance hub of the world (both services).
My Thought was, how is this sustainable? If that is in fact the traditional evolution of a country from developing to developed status, will there come a time (not necessarily in our lifetimes, mind you, but in centuries to come) when even Uganda, Ghana and Botswana will be churning out lawyers, doctors and bankers by the hundred, and farmers will be a rare commodity in the labour market, instead of the other way around?
I suppose as long as there is a demand for food and manufactured goods, there will be a derived demand for the labour that produces it, but that would mean that jobs agriculture and manufacturing would become *coveted* and highly-paid, because of the labour shortage...? We might see job wages turned on their heads, with skilled service positions (lawyers etc) being paid less than farmers!
Or, more probably, agricultural and manufacturing industries will become increasingly capital/machinery-based, meaning that we'll have robots growing apples for us. Then...does that mean that the bulk of the human labour force will eventually be doing white-collar, intellectual, service work...? Or MAYBE, agriculture and manufacturing as a sector will become so technologically advanced that it will require *even more skilled knowledge* than the current tertiary sector? Maybe it'll become the quar I'm not even going to try to spell the special word for "fourth sector", but basically I mean the sector after tertiary :P Or the fifth sector, since the fourth sector (I think) is supposed to be digital technology. And if that's the case, human beings will have come full circle...?
It's too early to be thinking these thoughts. I'm going to pack my bag.