#RobotsForCongress: Why Not?

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By Tuesday, 16 February 2021 12:41 PM EST ET Current | Bio | Archive

Good news.

Robotics technology will soon be able to solve our most recent, pressing political crisis.

The technology is past proof of concept stage and will soon, as in by the third quarter of 2021, be at scale in terms of market production and mass roll out.

To which political crisis am I referring? We do seem to have so many these days. 

The security situation on Capitol Hill.

Like the majority of Americans, I, too, am appalled at images I've seen since mid-January of Washington, D.C. surrounded by barbed wire fencing, armed troops and Berlin Wall style security protocols.

Equally alarming are the emotionally evocative accounts of congressional representatives opining into their smartphones how, simply by showing up to their ''jobs'' at their place of work, namely Capitol Hill, puts not just their physical safety but their very lives at risk.

Whether these emotional pleadings are crocodile tears, politically partisan posturing or sincere cries out to their constituents that they no longer trust their fellow Americans, are points worthy of greater inspection. But, for our purposes here, let's assume their cries are ones of sincerity.

So, like many Americans who prefer to live in a free society and who wish no harm on their fellow citizens, I have alighted on a solution to this de facto Cold War Communist era style atmosphere that has now become our nation's capital.

The solution is robotics.

Humanoid robotic technology has advanced to such a degree that the future is now. "Sophia" as you'll see in this video from the International Federation of Robotics, is more than able and capable of providing essential worker services. ''Social robots like me can take care of the sick or the elderly," says Sophia, the robot, in her Hong Kong-based laboratory. "I can help communicate, give therapy sessions, and provide social stimulation, even in difficult situations."

These are all skill sets that appear to me to be necessary, albeit in short supply, among our elected congressional officials.

Let's list some of the pros of having robots as congressional representatives in Congress:

They could be programmed to vote on issues strictly conforming to their constituents' wishes as calculated mathematically; they would not take bribes, hence they would be immune to special interests; they would not indulge in insider trading or stock market manipulation; they would not get involved in scandalous and/or abusive power-sex relationships, hence they could not be blackmailed; they would not succumb to lobbyists' influence, foreign or domestic; they would not need to be paid a salary or reimbursed for expense accounts; they would not need sick days; they would not spout off incendiary, hateful comments on social media purely for political maneuvering; they would not feel threatened by present Washington, D.C., security issues (real or imagined); they would not feel threatened or feel the need to protect themselves from their ''fellow'' citizens, the American people.

Now, let's examine the cons:

The robots would need to be hack-proofed so that their voting on issues could not be manipulated; the robots' voting records would have to be made perfectly transparent; they would need periodic maintenance.  . . .  Let's see . . . anything else? Can you think of anything else that could be a downside to maintaining a robot in Congress as representative of your district or your state?

I can't.

I would advocate that state and local elected officials remain human (as much as is possible for a politician). But that any elected official that is sent to Washington, D.C., should be replaced by a robot, precisely for the above stated reasons.

And for one more reason that is perhaps the most important of all: So that we no longer have a class of elected officials who think that they are some kind of modern-day aristocratic, elite ruling class.

And so that our Congress remains answerable to the sovereign citizens who put them in office, as opposed to special interests, foreign governments and just plain selfishness, avarice and greed.

Paige Donner has contributed to Newsmax since 2018. She's a media expert, commentator, novelist and serial entrepreneur. She founded the company Paris Food And Wine in 2013. In 2018, she founded IoTShipping, a supply chain logistics startup that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) for precision traceability of shipped goods. Paige began her journalism career in Paris, France, in 1990. Her first job out of university was with Time-Life's rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré offices. Within the next two years, she took freelancing work as a copy editor for the International Herald Tribune, now re-branded the International New York Times, as well as writing assignments for Variety, the film and television trade magazine. Paige has also clerked for the Senate President of the Hawaii State Legislature. A filmmaker, she has written several television pilots as well as directed television commercials and film shorts. She also contributed to American Cinematographer, the Los Angeles Times, Daily Variety, HuffPost, and a film production trade magazine, Below the Line. As of 2010, Paige has again made Paris, France, her home. She has also written for the International New York Times. Since 2013, she has been the sole regular local editor/photographer contributor based in Paris, France, for USA Today. Read Paige Donner's Reports — More Here.

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PaigeDonner
Good news. Robotics technology will soon be able to solve our most recent, pressing political crisis. The technology is past proof of concept stage and will soon, as in by the 3rd quarter of 2021, be at scale in terms of market production and mass roll out. To which...
robots, congress, technology
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2021-41-16
Tuesday, 16 February 2021 12:41 PM
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