We have to face the fact that countries are going to lose jobs

The entrepreneur and visionary Mark Cuban, speaking with the blunt clarity of one who sees the horizon of industry, declared: “We have to face the fact that countries are going to lose jobs to robotics. The only question that needs to be answered is which country will create and own the best robotic technology and have the infrastructure necessary to enable it.” In this statement, he confronts the dual nature of progress: its power to build and to disrupt, to create wealth even as it displaces labor. His words are not a lament, but a call to preparedness and vision.

At the heart of this truth is the inevitability of automation. From the earliest plow to the spinning jenny, from the steam engine to the assembly line, each age has faced the fear of jobs lost to machines. And yet, with every leap, societies were reshaped. Old labors vanished, but new ones emerged. Cuban reminds us that this cycle is not to be feared, but to be faced with courage and foresight. To deny it is folly; to master it is wisdom.

The struggle between those who adapt and those who cling to the past is written across history. When the Luddites rose in nineteenth-century England, smashing machines in defiance of industrial change, they expressed the terror of displacement. Yet their rebellion could not stop the tide. Industry advanced, and nations that embraced it grew strong. Those that resisted were left behind. So too with robotics and artificial intelligence: the nations that invest, that build, that create infrastructure, will rise, while those who resist will falter.

Cuban’s warning is also a challenge of sovereignty. To own technology is to wield power. Just as the mastery of seafaring once granted Spain and Portugal dominion over the oceans, and just as Britain’s harnessing of coal and steel crowned it ruler of the industrial age, so too will robotic technology define the masters of the twenty-first century. To lag behind in this race is not merely to lose jobs, but to lose influence, wealth, and independence.

Consider the story of Japan after the devastation of World War II. The nation faced ruin, yet by embracing technology, automation, and robotics, it rose again. Its factories became the envy of the world, its robots set new standards of efficiency. What seemed a nation broken by war became a model of industrial strength. This is the very principle Cuban speaks of: that the power lies not in lamenting lost jobs, but in mastering the new engines of productivity.

The lesson for individuals and nations alike is clear: do not resist the tide of innovation, but prepare for it. Invest in learning, in creativity, in the infrastructures that will carry societies into the new age. For the jobs that are lost will never return, but new fields will open for those with vision and skill. Patience alone will not save us; only boldness joined with preparation can secure our place in the future.

Therefore, O seekers of truth, let Mark Cuban’s words stir you: “The only question that needs to be answered is which country will create and own the best robotic technology.” Do not cower in fear at the loss of what was, but rise to build what will be. Train your hands, sharpen your minds, and prepare your nations, for the age of robots is not coming — it is already here. The wise will not fight against the dawn, but will greet it, and in doing so, inherit the strength of a new world.