A FEDERAL JOB GUARANTEE
There’s plenty of work to do that is valuable to society. A job guarantee would put people to work in nonprofits and government agencies that do valuable work but are chronically understaffed.
A really good book on this is “the case for a job guarantee” by Pavlina R. Tcherneva.
Some people are resistant to a job guarantee because they say we can’t afford it and you can’t fire people who aren’t working. I’ll address both of those issues, but first ...
One problem with our current system is that exploiters have too much power to run roughshod over everything that matters, such as air, water, forests and farmland, as well as people and public institutions. They have this power for many reasons, but not least of all because people are desperate for work.
We need to move the power from private capital to public institutions so we can have a more democratic economy and plan for our future.
Another problem is that unemployment costs more than employment.
Another problem is that the wealthy and corporations get an endless stream of unearned benefits. It’s hypocritical to deny privileges and guarantees to the most vulnerable.
Plus, not least of all, there’s PLENTY OF WORK TO DO. When we allow the “free market” to determine what counts as a worthwhile “job,” we are giving too much power to capital, too much power to the wealthy few. This is a plutocracy, not a democracy. It’s what we have now and it’s not democracy
Is government capable of creating jobs?
We give jobs to teachers, firefighters, soldiers, inspectors, regulators and cops because we perceive that some things are not to be left to the mythical “free market.”
If I have a business with customers, I don’t care if those customers earned their salary from a government job or private enterprise. It all spends the same.
Why don’t we allow the government to put money into circulation by giving it to public employees. Instead, we give it to banks and defense contractors. Not too smart.
Lastly, we need to move from an economy of production to an economy of care. We don’t need to constantly produce more stuff. We do, however, need to care for what we have. We need to care for our people, including our young people, our students, our seniors, people with disabilities.
We need to take an ecological approach to our farms, our landscapes, our forests and our waterways.
And we need to care for our vital systems such as healthcare, education and transportation.
There’s plenty of work to do. It’s silly to allow the profit motive and capital accumulation be the sole driving force in our economy. These are destructive forces when they are allowed free reign and not tempered with sensible planning.
Since when is chaos better than sensible planning?
I don’t have an answer to the question of what to do with someone who wants a job but does not want to work. But I think that’s the exception and not the rule. I think we can enact sensible policies to address these issues. And the only alternative is to give capital all the power. That has created a mess.