Gargantia E06 -- Dispiriting Dance

Remember when robot shows had space battles?  Those were dark times.

Gargantia episode six was controversial in online anime circles.  After much deliberation, it is with a heavy heart that I’ve decided to add my two cents, and let the chips fall where they may.  Thus, here begin my thoughts on the economics of the verdant planet, and how they relate to Earth today.

As Ledo has become established in his new role, he runs headfirst into that fact that he is, in fact, functionally obsolete.  His life up to this point have been training him in military tactics with limited applicability to where he is now.  During peacetime on Earth, his value lies not in his labor, but his capital – namely, his ownership of the mecha, Chamber.  Ledo isn’t even necessary to operate Chamber, and the robot is in fact most effective when delegated.

Mahou Shoujo are another career path facing increasing pressure from automation.

Ledo’s status as a NEET has broader resonance with the unemployed during our own Great Recession.  Long-term unemployment has a hysteresis effect – a person’s contacts start drying up, it’s difficult to maintain marketable skills, and employers are reluctant to hire you.  In a culture that defines people so much by what they do, this is like being told you have no place in the world.

Moreover, there are reasons to believe that this situation will become more and more trouble – and like in Gargantia, this will be partially the fault of the robots (an interesting article by Kevin Drum to this effect can be found here.).  As automation and artificial intelligence continue to develop apace, more and more of us will find ourselves in Ledo’s own position.  And at least in the medium term, there won’t be an obvious place for us – the productivity benefits of these robots will accrue to the people that own them.  

It's rather difficult to believe that Chamber couldn't figure out how to do this on his own.

Gargantia cops out on the question of Ledo’s ultimate fate with a device that stretches disbelief to the fullest – Chamber is shown as having uncharacteristic difficulty in assisting with fishing, suddenly requiring Ledo’s guidance.  Between this, and new salvage opportunities, Ledo manages to carve out a niche at last.  Somehow, we are to believe that an AI that was capable of deciphering an entire language in a matter of days could not understand that people would like fish whole.

Maybe Chamber is holding back so Ledo will feel better.

Let’s put that aside for a moment, and imagine that the narrative doesn’t demand opportunities for Ledo open up.  Where does that leave him?  In his case, Ledo owns Chamber, so while his being unmoored from society causes very really psychological effects, he can at least live on the money Chamber brings in.  What if that wasn’t true?  In Ledo’s place of origin, he doesn’t own Chamber – it’s owned by the government.  In that case, the overriding question becomes who gets to control the result of this robot plenty.  Is it held in common, to ensure each citizen an at least functional existence?  Do those benefits accrue primarily to a small elite, leaving the rest scraping by?  At least on our own Earth, there are depressing indications as to which direction it might take.

The arts are one way for humans to find their place in the world in a post-scarcity society.  And romance.

The show also raises the question about how citizens might handle a post-scarcity society, and where the fruits of their robots would be put to.  The government of Ledo’s world is completely dedicating those resources to its war effort, leaving the citizens a very rationed and regimented existence.  We don’t know yet if this is a true war for survival, a 1984-style effort to divert citizens from calling for a larger share in those resources, or something in between.  You can imagine the ideal situation being something like Star Trek, where they’re able to use their giant talking robots to achieve their own dreams and goals, rather than the robots being the proximate cause for their detachment.