One Man's Theory

According to the February report, there were about 8.7 million unemployed workers in the U.S. For the sake of a hypothetical argument, let's say that somehow we could airlift those 8.7 million people somewhere out of the country, to Mars or somewhere. Now we are left--at least for an instant--with zero unemployed people, because we got rid of all those lazy freeloaders.

My contention--I obviously have no proof--is that within some period of time--one year? five years? ten years?--we would have something similar to 8.7 million unemployed workers. Why? Because man has not yet been able to invent an economic system that doesn't rely on a surplus of labor in order to operate.

So, did this new group of unemployed become lazy freeloaders like the ones we airlifted to Mars? I don't think so. The system had to create them. I don't say it is done consciously or with malice, just that it happens. At any point in time, many (probably most) of the unemployed are not there voluntarily, nor do they want to stay that way. And if too many of them do get jobs and their number decreases too much, the system will have to create more of them from somewhere else.

So for a bleeding heart liberal--or socialist--like me, the question becomes what--if anything--to do about it? We can't eliminate the 5%, or whatever the magic tipping point is. Last week's freeloader is working this week and we had to create another to take his place. So if we accept the 5%, why not do what we can for them until their turn comes. The actual cost is incredibly small, compared to, say, a B-1 bomber. So why not provide an income floor or something, until someone invents the system that doesn't rely on them? In a sense, we couldn't survive without them. We can at least pay them for their service.

Anyway, that's my theory. I'm not claiming it's scientific, or even original. Just one man's view of how the world works.