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> If the U.S. were to switch its production to robots and thereby cause mass unemployment, a revolution would break out in the U.S.

You're assuming the US starts using robots to produce the things currently produced manually in the US, rather than using robots to produce the things currently produced manually in China.

That’s a brilliant insight.

China has no such policy. Article 41 (3) of the Labor Contract Law https://english.court.gov.cn/2015-08/17/c_761484_6.htm authorizes layoffs if "The enterprise changes its line of production, introduces a major technological updating or adjusts its business method, and, after modification of the labor contracts, still needs to reduce its personnel." There's been a prominent case recently http://english.scio.gov.cn/m/chinavoices/2026-04/30/content_... where a company tried to claim a change in the "objective conditions taken as the basis for conclusion of the contract" under Article 40 (3) instead, which the court disagreed with. This has led to a bunch of clickbait reporting in the West, claiming that workers in China are somehow protected from automation, but all it means is that they will be laid off instead of fired.

We can't switch our production to robots, we already switched it to China.